/ 



tt*<l 



V ,. 












- 































Engraved by B.. Tenner. 









from an original Picture . 



^vJlcrtiUTs^ 



Q% TJJJ; 



/ 






C bvtheJiight Her. ) 



^t 











1.S24. 



LECTURES 



ON 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. MATTHEW; 

DELIVERED IN THE 

PARISH CHURCH OF ST. JAMES, 
WESTMINSTER, 

IN THE YEARS 1798, 1/99, 1800, AND 1801. 

BY THE 

RIGHT REV. BEILBY PORTEUS, D.D, 

LORD BISHOP OP LONDON. 



<• i 



LONDON: 

PRINTED FOR WILLIAM BAYNES AND SON, 

PATERNOSTER ROW J AND 

H. S. BAYNES AND CO., EDINBURGH. 

1824. 






^%^ 



LONDON : 

PRINTED BY CHARLES WOOD, 

Poppin's Court, Fleet Street. 





PREFACE. 

> 

F 



At the time when the following Lectures were first be- 
gun, the political, moral, and religious state of this 
kingdom wore a very unfavourable aspect, and excited 
no small degree of uneasiness and alarm in every serious 
and reflecting mind. The enemies of this country were 
almost everywhere triumphant abroad, and its still more 
formidable enemies at home were indefatigably active 
in their endeavours to diffuse the poison of disaffection, 
infidelity, and a contempt of the Holy Scriptures, through 
every part of the kingdom, more especially among the 
lower orders of the people, by the most offensive and 
impious publications ; while at the same time it must 
be acknowledged, that among too many of the higher 
classes there prevailed, in the midst of all our distresses, 
a spirit of dissipation, profusion, and voluptuous gaiety, 
ill suited to the gloominess of our situation, and ill cal- 
culated to secure to us the protection of Heaven against 
the various dangers that menaced us on every side. Un- 
der these circumstances, it seemed to be the duty of 



iv PREFACE. 

every friend to religion, morality, good order, and good 
government, and more especially of the ministers of the 
Gospel, to exert every power and every talent with 
which God had blessed them, in order to counteract 
the baneful effects of those pestilential writings, which 
every day issued from the press ; to give some check to 
the growing relaxation of public manners ; to state plainly 
and forcibly the evidences of our faith, and the genuine 
doctrines of our religion, the true principles of submission 
to our lawful governors, the mode of conduct in every 
relation of life which the Gospel prescribes to us ; and 
to vindicate the truth, dignity, and divine authority of 
the sacred writings. All this, after much deliberation, 
I conceived could in no other way be so effectually done 
as by having recourse to those writings themselves, by 
going back to the very fountain of truth and holiness, 
and by drawing from that sacred source the proofs of its 
own celestial origin, and all the evangelical virtues 
springing from it, and branching out into the various 
duties of civil, social, and domestic life. 

The result was, that I resolved on discharging my 
share of these weighty obligations, by giving Lectures on 
the Gospel of St. Matthew, in my own parish church of 
St. James, Westminster, every Friday in Lent ; which, 
at the same time that it promoted my principal object, 
might also draw a little more attention to that holy but 
too much neglected season, which our church has very 
judiciously set apart for the purpose of retirement and 
recollection, and of giving some little pause and respite 
to the ceaseless occupations and amusements of a busy 



PREFACE. v 

and a thoughtless world. I foresaw, however, many diffi- 
culties in the undertaking, particularly in drawing to- 
gether any considerable number of people to a place of 
public worship, for any length of time, on a common 
day of the week. But it pleased God to bless the at- 
tempt with a degree of success far beyond every thing I 
could have expected or imagined. And as I have been 
assured, that several, even of those amongst my audience, 
that disbelieved or doubted the truth of Christianity, 
were impressed with a more favourable opinion both of 
its evidences and its doctrines, and with a higher vene- 
ration for the sacred writings than they had before en- 
tertained, I am willing to flatter myself, that similar im- 
pressions may possibly be made on some of that de- 
scription, who may chance to cast their eyes on these 
pages : and that they may also tend in some degree 
to confirm the faith and invigorate the good resolutions 
of many sincere believers in the Gospel. With this 
hope I now offer them to the world, and particularly to 
those whom Providence has placed under my more 
immediate superintendance, and to whom I am desirous 
to bequeath this (perhaps) last public testimony of my 
solicitude for their everlasting welfare. And whatever 
errors, imperfections, or accidental repetitions (arising 
from the recurrence of the same subjects in the sacred 
narrative) the critical reader may discover in this work ; 
he will, 1 trust, be disposed to think them entitled to 
some degree of indulgence, when he reflects, that it was 
not a very easy task to adapt either the matter or the 
language of such Discourses as these to the various cha- 



vi PREFACE. 

racters, conditions, circumstances, capacities, and wants 
of all those different ranks of people to whom they were 
addressed ; and when he is also told, that these Lectures 
were drawn up at a very advanced period of life, and 
not in the ease and tranquillity of literary retirement, 
but at short, broken intervals of time, such as could be 
stolen from the incessant occupations of an arduous and 
laborious station, which would not admit of sufficient 
leisure for profound research or finished composition. 



MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 



THIS amiable and distinguished prelate was the 
youngest but one of nineteen children, and was born at 
York, May 8, 1731. After having been for several 
years at a small school at York, at the age of thirteen 
he was placed under the care of Mr. Hyde, of Ripon, 
an upright and sensible man, of whose attention he ever 
entertained a grateful remembrance. Hence he was 
sent to Cambridge, and admitted a sizer at Christ's col- 
lege, of which college he eventually became a fellow. 
Here he pursued his studies with commendable dili- 
gence, and, as he has often said, spent one of the hap- 
piest periods of his life. He gained a prize in the Uni- 
versity, by the production of that admirable poem on 
Death, which is too well known to require more than 
this brief notice. Having taken orders, he soon after 
preached and published a sermon to repel an insidious 
attack on revelation, which attracted the attention of 
Archbishop Seeker, who made him one of his chaplains. 
Through the patronage of the Primate, he rose gradually 
into notice and preferment, and the ardent, growing, 
uninterrupted attachment of these two eminent persons, 
certainly exhibits one of the most pleasing pictures 
friendship, which our age has produced. 

December 20, 1776, he was raised to the see of 
Chester ; a preferment, to which his character and ta- 
lents well entitled him, but on his own part perfectly 
unsolicited and entirely unexpected. In this high sta- 
tion he pressed upon the attention of his clergy the 



viii MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 

solemn duties of their office, with great earnestness and 
affection, advising them to admonish the careless, to 
visit the sick, to promote, by every suitable means, the 
instruction of the lower classes. In all these things his 
episcopal counsel was recommended and enforced by 
his own example. Upon the death of the celebrated 
Lowth, Bishop of London, Dr. Porteus was called to fill 
the very important sphere, which he had occupied : and 
it deserves to be particularly noticed, that this appoint- 
ment, like all that had preceded it, was, on his part, 
perfectly unsought for and unsolicited. 

Vigilant and alive to the interests of morality and re- 
ligion, he lent the whole weight of his authority and in- 
fluence to every plan and institution, which appeared 
calculated to advance the welfare of mankind. It will 
be remembered how cordially he joined Mr.Wilber- 
force and his fellow -labourers, in their benevolent and 
persevering efforts for the abolition of the odious African 
Slave Trade, and his generous solicitude to communi- 
cate Christian instruction to the Negroes of our West- 
Indian colonies ; how uniformly he recommended and 
aided the projects set on foot for educating our own 
poor, particularly in the formation and encouragement 
of Sunday schools, after the model and example of the 
excellent Robert Raikes of Gloucester. Nor will it be 
forgotten, that his well-meant and vigorous exertions to 
check the torrents of infidelity and profaneness were 
crowned with no inconsiderable measure of success. He 
remonstrated with persons of the highest rank, both per- 
sonally and by letter, on the impropriety and injurious 
tendency of those parties for pleasure and amusement, 
which so obviously infringed on the sanctity of the sab- 
bath. 

Attached as he was to the establishment, he had yet a 
mind too liberal and enlarged not to treat, as he says, 
-' with gentleness and courtesy," those who differed 
from him in religious opinions. Provided they held the 
fundamentals of Christianity, he considered them as 
" fellow Christians, fellow Protestants, and fellow mem- 



MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. ix 

bers of the universal church ; " and he could never tole- 
rate the thought, that, on account of a diversity in out- 
ward forms, they should be avoided as foes to religion, 
excluded from the covenant of mercy, and thrust with 
acrimony and scorn beyond the pale of salvation. 

He cheerfully accepted the office of Vice-President of 
the British and Foreign Bible Society. " It is now," he 
observes, in a passage which strongly marks his senti- 
ments, "It is now well known and firmly established, 
and has completely triumphed over all the attempts 
made to destroy it. None of those secret dark designs, 
none of those plots to subvert the establishment, which 
were confidently predicted, have yet been discovered in 
it. It is in fact much better employed. It goes on 
quietly and steadily in the prosecution of its great ob- 
ject, and pays no sort of regard to the sneers and cavils 
of its intemperate opponents. It is rising uniformly in 
reputation and credit ; and attaching to itself more and 
more the approbation and support of every real friend to 
the church and to religion." 

This worthy Bishop finished his course in peace, 
May 13, 1809. 

He had, doubtless, his faults and defects ; and among 
these were noticed, at times, fretfulness and impatience. 
Dr. Porteus seems to have been neither a first-rate scho- 
lar, nor a profound theologian ; yet his acquaintance 
with ancient and modern literature was respectable, and 
his diligent study of the Scriptures was highly exem- 
plary. As a preacher, he w r as greatly distinguished. 
His aspect and manner were prepossessing ; his voice, 
though not strong, was clear and musical ; his delivery 
was chaste, earnest, spirited, and devout. 

His general conduct was marked by acts of unwearied 
benevolence. He was a rigid economist of time. Un- 
less illness prevented him, he rose constantly at six in 
the morning, and every part of the day had its allotted 
occupation. It was by this regular arrangement, from 
which he never deviated, that he was enabled to dis- 
patch his public official business with the utmost accu- 



x MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 

racy and precision, and yet to perform other duties, in 
his judgment not less imperative. He thought his hours 
well employed, his labour well repaid, if by any ex- 
ertion of his own, he could benefit a fellow-creature ; if 
he could assuage the anguish of distress, lighten the 
pressure of calamity, calm the disquietude of a troubled 
mind, inspire the timid with hope, or lead the wanderer 
into the way of truth. 

Eirm in his belief of Christianity, every thing con- 
nected with it engaged his attention. It was his great 
end to defend, to cherish, to promote it. The predo- 
minant object of all his wishes and desires was, in every 
thing he did, to do it to the "glory of God;" yet, 
amidst a conduct so holy and so pure, he had no melan- 
choly, no austerity, no gloom. He wished to render 
Religion as amiable as she is venerable ; to place her be- 
fore the eyes of men in her most alluring and attracting 
form, bright, serene, unclouded, and benign : in a word, 
to represent her, not as the enemy and the bane of hap- 
piness, but as the guide, the companion, the solace, the 
delight of man. On this principle his own character 
was formed : he lived as he taught others to live ; and it 
was this, more than any other cause, which gave such 
weight and efficiency to his instructions *• 

* See Hodgson's Life of Bishop Porteus. 



CONTENTS. 

Page 
LECTURE I. Feb. 23, 1798. 
A Compendious View of the Sacred Writings ........ 1 

LECTURE II. March 2, 1798. 
Matt. ii. — 'The Arrival and Offerings of the Wise 
Men at Bethlehem ... # . 14 

LECTURE IIL March 9, 1798. 
Matt. iii. — History and Doctrines of John the Baptist 27 

LECTURE IV. March 16, 1798. 
Matt, iv, Former Part. — Temptation of Christ in the 
Wilderness • 41 

LECTURE V. March 23, 1798. 
Matt, iv, Latter Part. — Choice of the Apostles. Be- 
ginning of Miracles 54 

LECTURE VI. March 30, 1798. 
Matt, v.— -Our Lord's Sermon on the Mount ........ 66 

LECTURE VII. Feb. 8, 1799. 
Matt, vi, and vii. — Continuation of the Sermon on the 
Moun t 82 

LECTURE VIII. Feb. 15, 1799. 
Matt. viii. — Conduct and Character of the Roman 
Centurion . . 97 

LECTURE IX. Feb. 22, 1799. 
Matt. x. — Our Lord's Instructions to his Apostles ... 108 

LECTURE X. March 1, 1799. 
Matt. xii. — Observations of the Sabbath ; Demoniacs ; 
Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost .............. 122 

LECTURE XL March 8, 1799. 
Matt. xiii. — Nature and Use of Parables 136 

LECTURE XII. March 15, 1799. 
Matt, xiii, continued. — Parable of the Sower ex- 
plained • 146 

LECTURE XIII. Feb. 28, 1800. 
Matt, xiii, continued— Parable of the Tares ex- 
plained 160 



xii CONTENTS. 

Page. 
LECTURE XIV. March 7, 1800. 
Matt. xiv. — History of Herod and Herodias, Death 
of John the Baptist „ 179 

LECTURE XV. March 14, 1800. 
Matt. xvii. — The Transfiguration of Christ ........ 194 

LECTURE XVI. March 21, 1800. 
Matt, xviii. — > Making our Brother to offend. Parable 
of the unforgiving Servant 208 

LECTURE XVII. March 28, 1800. 
Matt. xix. — The Means of attaining Eternal Life. 
Difficulty of a Rich Man entering into the King- 
dom of Heaven . . 225 

LECTURE XVIII. April 4, 1800. 
Matt. xxii. — Parable of the Marriage Feast. Insidious 
Questions put to Christ. The Two great Command- 
ments 239 

LECTURE XIX. Feb. 20, 1801. 
Matt. xxiv. — Our Lord's Prediction of the Siege and 
Destruction of Jerusalem 258 

LECTURE XX. Feb. 27, 1801. 
Matt, xxiv, xxv.' — Farther Remarks on the same Pro- 
phecy. Parables of the Ten Virgins and of the 
Talents. Day of Judgment 274 

LECTURE XXI. March 6, 1801. 
Matt, xx vi. — Institution of the Lord's Supper. Our 
Lord's Agony in the Garden. Betrayed by Judas. 
Carried before the High Priest 289 

LECTURE XXII. March 13, 1801. 
Matt, xxvii. — Christ carried before Pilate ; tried; con- 
demned ; and crucified 306 

LECTURE XXIII. March 20, 1801. 
Matt, xxvii, xxviii. — -Doctrine of Redemption. Burial 
and Resurrection of our Blessed Lord 322 

LECTURE XXIV. March 27, 1801. 
Matt, xxviii. — The Mysteries of Christianity. Conclu- 
sion of the Gospel of St. Matthew, and of the Lec- 
tures ••• ••• .t.t...* 337 



LECTURES 



LECTURE I 



IT being my intention to give from this place, on the 
Fridays daring Lent, a course of Lectures, explanatory 
and practical, on such parts of Scripture as seem to me 
best calculated to inform the understandings and affect 
the hearts of those that hear me, I shall proceed, without 
farther preface, to the execution of a design, in which 
edification, not entertainment, usefulness, not novelty, 
are the objects I have in view ; and in which, therefore, 
I may sometimes perhaps avail myself of the labours of 
others, when they appear to me better calculated to an- 
swer my purpose than any thing I am myself capable of 
producing. 

Although my observations will for the present be con- 
fined entirely to the Gospel of St. Matthew, and only to 
certain select parts even of that, yet it may not be im- 
proper or unprofitable to introduce these Lectures by a 
compendious view of the principal contents of those 
writings, which go under the general name of the Holy 
Scriptures. 

That book, which we call the Bible (that is, the Book, 
by way of eminence), although it is comprised in one 
volume, yet in fact comprehends a great number of dif- 
ferent narratives and compositions, written at different 
times, by different persons, in different languages, and 
on different subjects. And, taking the whole of the col- 
lection together, it is an unquestionable truth, that there 
is no one book extant, in any language, or in any country, 
which can in any degree be compared with it for anti- 

B 



2 LECTURE I. 

quity, for authority, for the importance, the dignity, 
the variety, and the curiosity of the matter it contains. 

It begins with that great and stupendous event, of all 
others the earliest and most interesting to the human 
race, the creation of this world, of the heavens and the 
earth, of the celestial luminaries, of man, and all the 
inferior animals, the herbs of the field, the sea and its 
inhabitants. All this it describes with a brevity and 
sublimity well suited to the magnitude of the subject, 
to the dignity of the Almighty Artificer, and unequalled 
by any other writer. The same wonderful scene is re- 
presented by a Roman poet*, who has evidently drawn 
his materials from the narrative of Moses. But though 
his description is finely imagined and elegantly wrought 
up, and embellished with much poetical ornament, yet 
in true simplicity and grandeur, both of sentiment and 
of diction, he falls far short of the sacred historian. 
" Let there be light : and there was light/' is an instance 
of the sublime, which stands to this day unrivalled in 
any human composition. 

But, what is of infinitely greater moment, this history 
of the creation has settled for ever that most important 
question, which the ancient sages were never able to 
decide ; from whence and from what causes this world, 
with all its inhabitants and appendages, drew its origin ; 
whether from some inexplicable necessity, from a for- 
tuitous concourse of atoms, from an eternal series of 
causes and effects, or from one supreme, intelligent, 
self-existing Being, the author of all things, himself 
without beginning and without end. To this last cause 
the inspired historian has ascribed the formation of this 
system ; and by so doing has established that great prin- 
ciple and foundation of all religion and all morality, 
and the great source of comfort to every human being, 
the existence of one God, the creator and preserver of the 
world, and the watchful superintendant of all the crea- 
tures that he has made. 

The sacred history next sets before us the primaeval 
happiness of our first parents in Paradise ; their fall 
from this blissful state by the wilful transgression of 
their Maker's command; the fatal effects of this ori- 
ginal violation of duty ; the universal wickedness and 
corruption it gradually introduced among mankind ; and 

* Ovid. 



GENERAL VIEW Or SCRIPTURE. 3 

the signal and tremendous punishment of that wicked- 
ness by the Deluge ; the certainty of which is acknow- 
ledged by the most ancient writers, and very evident 
traces of which are to be found at this day in various 
parts of the globe. It then relates the peopling of the 
world again by the family of Noah; the covenant en- 
tered into by God with that patriarch ; the relapse of 
mankind into wickedness ; the calling of Abraham ; and 
the choice of one family and people, the Israelites (or, 
as they were afterwards called, the Jews), who were 
separated from the rest of the world to preserve the 
knowledge and worship of a Supreme Being, and the 
great fundamental doctrine of the Unity ; while all the 
rest of mankind, even the wisest and most learned, 
were devoted to polytheism and idolatry, and the grossest 
and most abominable superstitions. It then gives us the 
history of this people, with their various migrations, 
revolutions, and principal transactions. It recounts their 
removal from the land of Canaan, and their establish- 
ment in Egypt under Joseph ; whose history is related 
in a manner so natural, so interesting, and affecting, 
that it is impossible for any man of common sensibility 
to read it without the strongest emotions of tenderness 
and delight. 

In the book of Exodus we have the deliverance of this 
people from their bondage in Egypt, by a series of the 
most astonishing miracles ; and their travels through the 
wilderness for forty years, under the conduct of Moses; 
during which time (besides many other rules and direc- 
tions for their moral conduct) they received the Ten 
Commandments, written on two tables of stone by the 
finger of God himself, and delivered by him to Moses 
with the most awful and tremendous solemnity ; con- 
taining a code of moral law, infinitely superior to any 
thing known to the rest of mankind in those rude and 
barbarous ages. 

The books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, 
are chiefly occupied with the various other laws, insti- 
tutions, and regulations, given to this people respecting 
their civil government, their moral conduct, their reli- 
gious duties, and thei^ ceremonial observances. 

Among these, the book of Deuteronomy (which con- 
cludes what is called the Pentateuch, or five books of 
.Moses) is distinguished above all the rest by a concise 
and striking recapitulation of the innumerable bless- 



4 LECTURE 1. 

ings and mercies which they had received from God 
since their departure from Horeb ; by strong expostulations 
on their past rebellious conduct, and their shameful in- 
gratitude for all these distinguishing marks of the Divine 
favour ; by many forcible and pathetic exhortations to 
repentance and obedience in future : by promises of the 
most substantial rewards, if they returned to their duty ; 
and by denunciations of the severest punishments, if 
they continued disobedient : and all this delivered in a 
strain of the most animated, sublime, and commanding 
eloquence. 

The historical books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, 
Kings, and Chronicles, continue the history of the 
Jewish nation under their leaders, judges, and kings, for 
near a thousand years ; and one of the most prominent and 
instructive parts of this history is the account given of 
the life and reign of Solomon, his wealth, his power, and 
all the glories of his reign ; more particularly that noble 
proof he gave of his piety and munificence, by the con- 
struction of that truly magnificent temple which bore 
his name; the solemn and splendid dedication of this 
temple to the service of God ; and that inimitable prayer 
which he then offered up to Heaven in the presence of 
the whole Jewish people; a prayer evidently coming 
from the heart, sublime, simple, nervous, and pathetic ; 
exhibiting the justest and the warmest sentiments of 
piety, the most exalted conceptions of the Divine nature, 
and every way equal to the sanctity, the dignity, and the 
solemnity of the occasion. 

Next to these follow the books of Ezra and Nehe- 
miah, which contain the history of the Jews for a con- 
siderable period of time after their return from a cap- 
tivity of seventy years in Babylon, about which time the 
name of Jews seems first to have been applied to them. 
The books of Ruth and Esther are a kind of appendage 
to the public records, delineating the characters of two 
very amiable individuals, distinguished by their virtues, 
and the very interesting incidents which befel them, the 
one in private, the other in public life, and which were 
in some degree connected with the honour and prosperity 
of the nation to which they belonged. 

In the book of Job, we have the history of a personage 
of high rank, of remote antiquity, and extraordinary 
virtues ; rendered remarkable by uncommon vicissitudes 
of fortune, by the most splendid prosperity at one time* 



GENERAL VIEW OF SCRIPTURE. 5 

by an accumulation of the heaviest calamities at another ; 
conducting himself under the former with moderation, 
uprightness, and unbounded kindness to the poor ; and 
under the latter, with the most exemplary patience and 
resignation to the will of Heaven. The composition is 
throughout the greater part highly poetical and figurative, 
and exhibits the noblest representations of the Supreme 
Being and a superintending providence, together _ with 
the most admirable lessons of fortitude and submission 
to the will of God under the severest afflictions that can 
befal human nature. The Psalms, which follow^ this 
book, are full of such exalted strains of piety and de- 
votion, such beautiful and animated descriptions of the 
power, the wisdom, the mercy, the goodness of God, that 
it is impossible for any one to read them without feeling 
his heart inflamed with the most ardent affection to- 
wards the great Creator and Governor of the universe. 

The Proverbs of Solomon, which come next in order, 
contain a variety of very excellent maxims of wisdom, 
and invaluable rules of life, which have nowhere been 
exceeded, except in the 2s ew Testament. They afford 
us, as they profess to do at their very first outset, " the 
instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity. They 
give subtilty to the simple ; to the young man, knowledge 
and discretion." 

The same may be said of the greater part of the book 
of Ecclesiastes, which also teaches us to form a just es- 
timate of this world, and its seeming advantages of 
wealth, honour, power, pleasure, and science. 

The prophetical writings present us with the worthiest 
and most exalted ideas of the Almighty, the justest and 
purest notions of piety and virtue, the awfullest denun- 
ciations against wickedness of every kind, public and 
private ; the most affectionate expostulations, the most 
inviting promises, and the warmest concern for the 
public good. And, besides all this, they contain a series of 
predictions relating to our blessed Lord, in which all 
the remarkable circumstances of his birth, life, ministry, 
miracles, doctrines, sufferings, and death, are foretold in 
so minute and exact a manner (more particularly in the 
prophecy of Isaiah), that you would almost think they 
were describing all these things after they had hap- 
pened, if you did not know that these prophecies were 
confessedly written many hundred years before Christ 
came into the world, and were all that time in the pos- 

B 3 



6 LECTURE I. 

session of the Jews, who were the mortal enemies of 
Christianity, and therefore would never go about to 
forge prophecies, which most evidently prove him to be 
what he professed to be, and what they denied him to 
be, the Messiah and the Son of God. It is to this part 
of Scripture that our Lord particularly directs our at- 
tention, when he says, " Search the Scriptures ; for they 
are they that testify of me*." The testimony he alludes 
to is that of the prophets ; than which no evidence can 
be more satisfactory and convincing to any one that 
reads them with care and impartiality, and compares 
their predictions concerning our Saviour with the history 
of his life, given us by those who constantly lived and 
conversed with him. This history we have in the New 
Testament, in that part of it which goes by the name of 
the Gospels. 

It is these that recount those wonderful and important 
events, with which the Christian religion and the Divine 
Author of it were introduced into the world, and which 
have produced so great a change in the principles, the 
manners, the morals, and the temporal as well as the 
spiritual condition of mankind . They relate the first ap- 
pearance of Christ upon earth ; his extraordinary and 
miraculous birth ; the testimony borne to him by his 
forerunner John the Baptist , his temptation in the wil- 
derness ; the opening of his divine commission ; the pure, 
the perfect, the sublime morality which he taught, especi- 
ally in his inimitable sermon from the Mount ; the infi- 
nite superiority which he showed to every other moral 
teacher, both in the matter and manner of his discourses : 
more particularly by crushing vice in its very cradle, in 
the first risings of wicked desires and propensities in the 
heart ; by giving a decided preference of the mild, gen- 
tle, passive, conciliating virtues, to that violent, vindictive, 
high-spirited, unforgiving temper, which has been always 
too much the favourite character of the world ; by requir- 
ing us to forgive our very enemies, and to do good to them 
that hate us ; by excluding from our devotions, our alms, 
and all our other virtues, all regard to fame, reputation, 
and applause ; by laying down two great general princi- 
ples of morality, love to God and love to mankind, and 
deducing from thence every other human duty ; by con- 
veying his instructions under the easy, familiar, and im- 

* John v, 39. 



GENERAL VIEW OF SCRIPTURE. 7 

pressive form of parables ; by expressing himself in a tone 
of dignity and authority unknown before ; by exemplifying 
every virtue that he taught in his own unblemished and 
perfect life and conversation; and, above all, by adding 
those awful sanctions, which he alone, of all moral in- 
structors, had the power to hold out, eternal rewards to 
the virtuous, and eternal punishments to the wicked. The 
sacred narrative then represents to us the high character 
he assumed ; the claim he made to a divine original ; the 
wonderful miracles he wrought in proof of his divinity ; 
the various prophecies, which plainly marked him out as 
the Messiah, the great deliverer of the Jews ; the decla- 
rations he made, that he came to offer himself a sacrifice 
for the sins of all mankind ; the cruel indignities, suffer- 
ings, and persecutions, to which, in consequence of this 
great design, he was exposed ; the accomplishment of it 
by the painful and ignominious death to which he sub- 
mitted; by his resurrection after three days from the 
grave; by his ascension into Heaven ; by his sitting there 
at the right hand of God, and performing the office of a 
mediator and an intercessor for the sinful sons of men, 
till he comes a second time in his glory to sit in judgment 
on all mankind, and decide their final doom of happiness 
or misery for ever. 

These are the momentous, the interesting truths, on 
which the Gospels principally dwell. 

The Acts of the Apostles continue the history of our 
religion after our Lord's ascension : the astonishing and 
rapid propagation of it by a few illiterate tent-makers 
and fishermen, through almost every part of the world, 
" by demonstration of the spirit and of power ;" without 
the aid of eloquence or of iorce, and in opposition to all 
the authority, all the power, and all the influence, of 
the opulent and the great. 

The Epistles, that is, the letters addressed by the 
apostles and their associates to different churches and to 
particular individuals, contain many admirable rules and 
directions to the primitive converts ; many affecting ex- 
hortations, expostulations, and reproofs ; many expla- 
nations and illustrations of the doctrines delivered by 
our Lord; together with constant references to facts, 
circumstances, and events recorded in the Gospels and 
the Acts ; in which we perceive such striking, yet evi- 
dently such unpremeditated and undesigned coincidences 
and agreements between the narratives and the epistles, 



8 LECTURE I. 

as form one most conclusive argument for the truth, au- 
thenticity, and genuineness of both*. 

The sacred volume concludes with the Revelation of 
St. John, which, under the form of visions, and various 
symbolical representations, presents to us a prophetic 
history of the Christian religion in future times, and the 
various changes, vicissitudes, and revolutions it was to 
undergo in different ages and countries, to the end of 
the world t. 

Is it possible now to conceive a nobler, a more com- 
prehensive, a more useful scheme of instruction than 
this ; in which the uniformity and variety, so happily 
blended together, give it an inexpressible beauty, and 
the whole composition plainly proves its author to be 
divine 1 

"The Bible is not indeed (as a great writer observes |) 
a plan of religion delineated with minute accuracy, to 
instruct men as in something altogether new, or to excite 
a vain admiration and applause ; but it is somewhat un- 
speakably more great and noble, comprehending (as we 
have seen) in the grandest and most magnificent order, 
along with every essential of that plan, the various dis- 
pensations of God to mankind, from the formation of this 
Earth to the consummation of all things. Other books 
may afford us much entertainment and much instruc- 
tion ; may gratify our curiosity, may delight our ima- 
gination, may improve our understandings, may calm 
our passions, may exalt our sentiments, may even im- 
prove our hearts : but they have not, they cannot have, 
that authority in what they affirm, in what they re- 
quire, in what they promise and threaten, that the 
Scriptures have. There is a peculiar weight and energy 
in them, which is not to be found in any other writings. 
Their denunciations are more awful, their convictions 
stronger, their consolations more powerful, their coun- 
sels more authentic, their warnings more alarming, their 

* See the Horae Paulinas of Dr.Paley. 

t A fuller and more detailed account of the contents of the several 
books of Scripture may be found in Mr. Gray's Key to the Old Tes- 
tament, Bishop Percy's to the New, and the Bishop of Lincoln's late 
excellent work on the Elements of Christian Theology. That part 
of it which relates to the Scriptures has been lately reprinted, for the 
accommodation of the public at lar#e, in a duodecimo volume, which 
I particularly recommend to the attention of my readers. 

t Archbishop Seeker, vol. vi. 



GENERAL VIEW OF SCRIPTURE. 9 

expostulations more penetrating. There are passages in 
them throughout so sublime, so pathetic, full of such 
energy and force upon the heart and conscience, yet 
without the least appearance of labour and study for that 
purpose ; indeed the design of the whole is so noble, so 
well suited to the sad condition of human kind ; the 
morals have in them such purity and dignity ; the doc- 
trines, so many of them above reason, yet so perfectly 
reconcileable with it ; the expression is so majestic, yet 
familiarized with such easy simplicity, that the more we 
read and study these writings, with pious dispositions and 
judicious attention, the more we shall see and feel of the 
hand of God in them*." But that which stamps upon 
them the highest value, that which renders them, strictly 
speaking, inestimable, and distinguishes them from all other 
books in the world, is this, that they and they only " con- 
tain the words of eternal lifet." In this respect, every 
other book, even the noblest compositions of man, must 
fail us ; they cannot give us that which we most want, 
and what is of infinitely more importance to us than all 
other things put together, eternal life. 

This we must look for nowhere but in Scripture. It is 
there, and there only, that we are informed, from au- 
thority, of the immortality of the soul, of a general resur- 

* That accomplished scholar and distinguished writer, the late 
Sir William Jones, chief justice of Bengal, at the end of his Bible 
wrote the following note : which, coming from a man of his pro- 
found erudition, and perfect knowledge of the oriental languages, 
customs, and manners, must be considered as a most powerful tes- 
timony, not only to the sublimity, but to the divine inspiration of 
the sacred writings : — 

" I have," says he, " regularly and attentively read these Holy 
Scriptures, and am of opinion, that this volume, independently of its 
divine origin, contains more true sublimity, more exquisite beauty, 
more pure morality, more important history, and finer strains both 
of poetry and eloquence, than cau be collected from all other books, 
in whatever age or language they may have been composed. 

" The two parts, of which the Scriptures consist, are connected 
by a chain of compositions, which bear no resemblance, in form or 
style, to any that can be produced from the stores of Grecian, Per- 
sian, or even Arabian learning: the antiquity of those compositions 
no man doubts; and the unstrained application of them to events 
long subsequent to their publication is a solid ground of belief, that 
they are genuine predictions, and consequently inspired." 

t John vi 3 68. 



10 LECTURE I. 

rection from the dead, of a future judgment, of a state 
of eternal happiness to the good, and of eternal misery to 
the bad. It is there we are made acquainted with the 
fall of our first parents from a state of innocence and 
happiness ; with the guilt, corruption, and misery, which 
this sad event brought on all their posterity ; which, to- 
gether with their own personal and voluntary transgres- 
sions, rendered them obnoxious to God's severest punish- 
ments. But, to our inexpressible comfort, we are farther 
told in this divine book, that God is full of mercy, com- 
passion, and goodness ; that he is not extreme to mark 
what is done amiss ; that he willeth not the death of a 
sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wicked- 
ness, and save his soul alive. In pity, therefore, to man- 
kind, he was pleased to provide a remedy for their dread- 
ful state. He was pleased to adopt a measure, which 
should at once satisfy his justice, show his extreme ab- 
horrence of sin, make a sufficient atonement for the sins 
of the whole world, and release all, who accepted the 
terms proposed to them, from the punishment they had 
deserved. This was nothing less than the death of his 
Son Jesus Christ, whom he sent into the world to take 
our nature upon him, to teach us a most holy, pure, and 
benevolent religion, to reform us both by his precepts 
and example ; and, lastly, to die for our sins, and to rise 
again for our justification. By him, and his evangelists 
and apostles, we are assured, that if we sincerely repent 
of our sins, and firmly believe in him and his Gospel, we 
shall, for the sake of his sufferings and his righteousness, 
have all our transgressions forgiven and blotted out; 
shall be justified, that is, considered as innocent in the 
sight of God ; shall have the assistance of his Holy Spirit 
for our future conduct ; and, if we persevere to the end 
in an uniform (though, from the infirmity of our nature, 
imperfect) obedience to all the laws of Christ, shall, 
through his merits, be rewarded with everlasting glory in 
the life to come. 

Since then the utility, the absolute necessity of reading 
the Scriptures is so great ; since they are not only the 
best guide you can consult, but the only one that can 
possibly lead you to heaven ; it becomes the indispensa- 
ble duty of every one of you most carefully and con- 
stantly to peruse these sacred oracles, that you may 
thereby " become perfect, thoroughly furnished to every 



GENERAL VIEW OF SCRIPTURE. 11 

good work*." They, who have much leisure, should 
employ a considerable share of it in this holy exercise ; 
and even they, who are most immersed in business, have, 
or ought to have, the Lord's day entirely to spare, and 
should always employ some part of it (more particularly 
at this holy season) in reading and meditating on the 
word of God. By persevering steadily in this practice, 
any one may, in no great length of time, read the Scrip- 
tures through, from one end to the other. But in doing 
this, it will be advisable to begin with the New Testa- 
ment first, and to read it over most frequently, because 
it concerns us Christians the most, nearly, and explains 
to us more fully and more clearly the words of eternal 
life. But after you have once gone regularly through 
both the Old Testament and the New, it may then be 
most useful, perhaps, to select out of each such passages 
as lay before you the great fundamental doctrines, and 
most essential duties, of your Christian profession ; and 
even amongst these, to dwell the longest on such as ex- 
press these things in the most awful and striking manner, 
such as affect and touch you most powerfully, such as 
make your heart burn within you, and stir up all the 
pious affections in your soul. But it will be of little use 
to read, unless at the same time also you reflect ; unless 
you apply what you read to those great purposes, which 
the Scriptures were meant to promcte, the amendment 
of your faults, the improvement of your hearts, and the 
salvation of your souls. 

To assist you in this most important and necessary 
work is the design of these Lectures ; and, in the exe- 
cution of this design, I shall have these four objects 
principally in view : — 

First. To explain and illustrate those passages of holy 
writ, which are in any degree difficult and obscure. 

Secondly. To point out, as they occur in the sacred 
writings, the chief leading fundamental principles and 
doctrines of the Christian religion. 

Thirdly. To confirm and strengthen your faith, by 
calling your attention to those strong internal marks of 
the truth and divine authority of the Christian religion, 
which present themselves to us in almost every page of 
the Gospel. 

Fourthly. To lay before you the great moral precepts 

* 2Tim.iii, 17. 



12 LECTURE I. 

of the Gospel, to press them home upon your consciences 
and your hearts, and render them effectual to the im- 
portant ends they were intended to serve ; namely, the 
due government of your passions, the regulation of your 
conduct, and the attainment of everlasting life. 

These are all of them objects of the very last import- 
ance ; they are worthy the attention of every human 
being ; and they will, I think, be better attained by a 
familiar and practical explanation of the sacred writings, 
than by any other species of composition whatever. 

The plan of instruction adopted by our blessed Lord 
was unquestionably the very best that could be devised. 
It was not a regular system of ethics, delivered in a con- 
nected series of dry essays and dissertations, like those 
of the ancient heathen philosophers : but it consisted of 
familiar discourses, interesting parables, short senten- 
tious maxims, and occasional reflections, arising from 
the common occurrences of life, and the most obvious 
appearances of nature, All these various modes of in- 
struction are so judiciously blended and mixed together 
in the history of our Lord's life and conversation, de- 
livered to us in the Gospel (as all the various sorts of 
pleasing objects are in the unornamented scenes of na- 
ture), that they make a much deeper impression, both 
on the understanding and on the heart, than they could 
possibly do in any other more artificial form. 

An exposition of Scripture, then, must at all times be 
highly useful and interesting to every sincere disciple of 
Christ ; but must be peculiarly so at the present mo- 
ment, when so much pains have been taken to ridicule 
and revile the sacred writings, to subvert the very 
foundations of our faith, and to poison the minds of all 
ranks of people, but especially the middling and the 
lower classes, by the most impious and blasphemous 
publications, that ever disgraced any Christian country *. 
To resist these wicked attempts is the duty of every 
minister of the Gospel ; and as I have strongly exhorted 
all those, who are under my superintendence, to exert 
themselves with zeal and with vigour in defence of their 
insulted religion, I think it incumbent on me to take my 
share in this important contest, and to show, that I wish 

* About this time, and for some years before, the Age of Reason, 
and other pestilent writings of the same nature, were disseminated 
through almost every district of this country with incredible in- 
dustry. 



GENERAL VIEW OF SCRIPTURE. 13 

not to throw burthens on others of which I am not will- 
ing to bear my full proportion. As long, therefore, as 
my health, and the various duties of an extensive and 
pop-a ens diocese, will permit, and the exigencies of the 
times require such exertions, I propose to continue an- 
nually these Lectures. And I shall think it no unbe- 
coming conclusion of my life, if these labours of my de- 
clining years should tend in any degree to render the 
Holy Scriptures more clear and intelligible, more useful 
and delightful ; if they shall confirm the faith, reform 
the manners, console and revive the hearts of those who 
hear me ; and vindicate the honour of our Divine Master 
from those gross indignities and insults, which have of 
late been so indecently and impiously thrown on him 
and his religion. 



LECTURE II. 



MATTHEW I, II. 

Having, in the preceding Lecture, taken a short com- 
prehensive view of the several books of the sacred vo- 
lume, I now proceed to the Gospel of St. Matthew ; and 
shall in this Lecture confine myself to the two first chap- 
ters of that book*. 

The history of our Saviour's birth, life, doctrines, pre- 
cepts, and miracles, is contained in four books or narra- 
tives called Gospels, written at different times, and by 
four different persons, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 
who were among the first converts to Christianity, and 
perfectly well acquainted with the facts they relate : to 
which, two of them were eye-witnesses, and the other 
two constant companions of those who were so, from 
whom they received immediately every thing they re- 
late. This is better authority for the truth of these his- 
tories than we have for the greater part of the histories 
now extant, the fidelity of which we do not in the least 
question. For few of our best histories, either ancient 
or modern, were written by persons, who were eye-wit- 
nesses of all the transactions, which they relate ; and 
there is scarce any instance of the history of the same 
person being written by four different contemporary his- 
torians, all perfectly agreeing in the main articles, and 
differing only in a few minute particulars of no moment. 
This, however, we find actually done in the life of Jesus, 
which has been written by each of the four evangelists ; 
and it is a very strong proof of their veracity. For let 

* For some very valuable observations in some parts of this, and 
the third and thirteenth Lecture, I am indebted to my late excellent 
friend and patron, Archbishop Seeker. 



MATTHEW I, II. 15 

us consider what the case is, at this very day, in the af- 
fairs of common life. When four different persons are 
called upon in a court of justice to prove the reality of 
any particular fact, that happened twenty or thirty years 
ago, what is the sort of evidence, which they usually 
give? Why, in all the great leading circumstances, 
which tend to establish the fact in question, they in 
general perfectly agree. In a few other points, perhaps, 
they differ. But then these are points, which do not at 
all affect the main question, which were too trifling to 
make much impression at the time on the memory of the 
observers, and which therefore they would all relate 
with some little variation in their account. This is pre- 
cisely the case with the writers of the four Gospels ; and 
this substantial coincidence and accidental variation has 
much more the air and garb of truth than where there 
is a perfect agreement in every the minutest article ; 
which has too much the appearance of a concerted 
story. 

That the books, which we now have under the names 
of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were written by 
the persons whose names they bear, cannot admit the 
smallest doubt with any unprejudiced mind. They 
have been acknowledged as such by every Christian 
church, in every age, from the time of our Saviour to this 
moment. There are allusions to them, or quotations 
from them, in the earliest writers, as far back as the age 
of the apostles, and continued down in a regular succes- 
sion to the present hour ; a proof of authenticity which 
scarce any other ancient book in the world can produce. 
They were received as genuine histories, not only by the 
first Christians, but by the first enemies of Christianity, 
and their authority was never questioned, either by the 
ancient heathens or Jews*. 

The first of these Gospels is that of St. Matthew. It 
was written probably at the latest not more than fifteen 
years, some think only eight years after our Lord's 
ascensien. The author of it was an apostle and con- 
stant companion of Jesus, and of course an eye-witness 
of every thing he relates. He was called by our blessed 

* Whoever wishes for farther satisfaction, on this most important 
subject, will not fail of finding it in Dr. Larduer's learned work, 
the Credibility of the Gospel History, where this question has been 
very ably treated, and the authenticity of the Gospels established 
on the most solid grounds. 



16 LECTURE II. 

Lord from a most lucrative occupation, that of a collec- 
tor of the public revenue, to be one of his disciples and 
friends ; a call which he immediately obeyed, relinquish- 
ing every thing that was dear and valuable to him in 
the present life. This is a sacrifice, which few people 
have made for the sake of religion, and had St. Mat- 
thew's object been the applause of men, he might have 
displayed the merits of this sacrifice in a light very fa- 
vourable to himself. But the apostle, conscious of much 
nobler views, describes this transaction in the simplest 
and most artless words. " As Jesus," says he, " passed 
forth from thence, he saw a man named Matthew, sit- 
ting at the receipt of custom ; and he saith unto him, 
Follow me : and he arose and followed him." 

The first thing, that occurs in the Gospel of St. Mat- 
thew, is the genealogy of Christ, in order to prove that 
he was descended from the house and family of David,, 
as the prophets foretold he should be. 

In this genealogy there are confessedly some diffi- 
culties ; at which we cannot be much surprised, when 
we consider of what prodigious antiquity this gene- 
alogy is, going back some thousands of years; and 
when we know too, that several Jewish persons had 
the same name, and that the same person had dif- 
ferent names (especially under the Babylonish cap- 
tivity), which is still the ease in India and other parts 
of Asia. This must necessarily create some perplexity, 
especially at such a distance as we are from the first 
sources of information. But to the Jews themselves, 
at the time, there were probably no difficulties at all - r 
and it does not appear, that they (who were certainly 
the best judges of the question) made any objection to- 
this genealogy of Christ, or denied him to be descended 
from the family of David. We may, therefore, reason*- 
ably conclude, that his descent was originally admitted 
to be fairly made out by the evangelists, whatever ob- 
scurities may have arisen since. Indeed it is highly 
probable, that this genealogy was taken from some pub- 
lic records or registers of the ancient Jewish families, 
which it is very evident from Josephus that the Jews 
had, especially with regard to the lineage of David, and 
which were universally known and acknowledged to be 
authentic documents. I shall therefore only observe 
farther on this head, that St. Matthew gives the pedi- 
gree of Joseph, and St. Luke that of Mary. But they 



MATTHEW I, II. 17 

both come to the same thing, because among the Jews 
the pedigree of the husband was considered as the legal 
pedigree of the wife ; and as Mary and Joseph were 
nearly related, and were of the same tribe and family, 
their genealogies of course must run nearly in the same 
line. 

After the genealogy of Christ, follows an account of 
his birth, which, as we may easily suppose of so extra- 
ordinary a person, had something in it very extraordi- 
nary. Accordingly the evangelist tells us, that " the 
angel of the Lord appeared unto Joseph in a dream, 
saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto 
thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is 
of the Holy Ghost : and she shall bring forth a son, and 
thou shalt call his name Jesus (that is, a Saviour) ; for 
he shall save his people from their sins*." 

This undoubtedly was a most wonderful, and singular, 
and unexampled event. But it was natural to imagine, 
that when the Son of God was to appear upon the scene, 
he would enter upon it in a way-somewhat different from 
the sons of men. And in fact we find him appearing 
upon earth in a manner perfectly new, and peculiar to 
himself ; in a manner, which united in itself at once the 
evidence of prophecy and of miracle. He was born of a 
virgin ; and, what is no less wonderful, it was predicted 
of him seven hundred years before, that he should be so 
born. " Behold," says Isaiah, " a virgin shall con- 
ceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Im- 
manuelf;" a Hebrew word, signifying God with us. 
What man, but a prophet inspired of God, could have 
foreseen an event so completely improbable, and appa- 
rently impossible 1 What impostor would have hazarded 
such a prediction as this 1 and, what is of still more im- 
portance, what impostor could have fulfilled it? What 
less than the power of God could have enabled Jesus to 
fulfil it 1 By that power he did fulfil it. He only of the 
whole human race did fulfil it ; and thus proved himself 
to be, at the very moment of his birth, what the whole 
course of his future life, his death, his resurrection, and 
his ascension into heaven, further declared him to be, 
The Son of God. 
And as such he was soon acknowledged, and due ho- 

* Matt, i, 20. t Isaiah vii, 14. 

C 3 



18 LECTURE II. 

mage paid to his divinity by a very singular embassy,, 
and in a very singular manner. For the evangelist pro- 
ceeds to tell us, in the beginning of the second chapter, 
that " when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, 
there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, say- 
ing, Where is he that is born King of the Jews 1 for we 
have seen his star in the East, and are come to worship 
him." As this is a very remarkable, and very import- 
ant event, I shall employ the remaining part of this Lec- 
ture in explaining it to you at large, subjoining such re- 
flections as naturally arise from it. 

The name of these persons, whom our translation calls 
wise men, is in the original fxayoi, in the Latin language 
magi, from whence is derived our English word magi- 
cians. The magi were a sect of ancient philosophers, 
living in the eastern part of the world, collected together 
in colleges, addicted to the study of astronomy, and 
other parts of natural philosophy, and highly esteemed 
throughout the East, having juster sentiments of God and 
his worship than any of the ancient heathens ; for they 
abhorred the adoration of images made in the form of 
men and animals, and though they did represent the 
Deity under the symbol of fire (the purest and most ac- 
tive of all material substances), yet they worshipped one 
only God : and so blameless did their studies and their 
religion appear to be, that the prophet Daniel, scrupu- 
lous as he was, to the hazard of his life, with respect to 
the Jewish religion, did not refuse to accept the office 
which Nebuchadnezzar gave him, of being master of the 
magi, and chief governor over all the wise men of Ba- 
bylon*. They were therefore evidently the fittest of all 
the ancient heathens to have the first knowledge of the 
Son of God, and of salvation by him, imparted to them. 

The country, from whence they came, is only de- 
scribed in St. Matthew as lying east from Judea, and 
therefore might be either Persia, where the principal 
residence of the magi was, or else Arabia, to which an- 
cient authors say they did, and undoubtedly they easily 
might, extend themselves, which, it is well known, 
abounded in the valuable things that their presents con- 
sisted of; and concerning which the seventy-second 
Psalm (plainly speaking of the Messiah) says, " The 

* Vide Dan. v, 11. 



MATTHEW I, II. 19 

kings of Arabia and Saba (or Sabaea, an adjoining re- 
gion) shall bring gifts;" and again, " unto him shall 
be given of the gold of Arabia." 

Supposing this prophecy of the Psalmist to point out 
the persons whose journey the evangelist relates, it will 
also determine what their station or rank in life was. 
namely, kings, "the kings of Arabia and Saba." Of 
this circumstance St. Matthew says nothing directly, but 
their offerings are a sufficient evidence that their con- 
dition could not be a mean one : and though there is 
certainly no proof, there is on the other hand no impro- 
bability, of their being lords of small sovereignties, 
which might afford them a claim, according to the an- 
cient usage of that part of the world, to the name of 
kings. For we read in Scripture not only of some small* 
towns or tracts, that had each of them their king, but of 
some also, which could not be very large, that had each 
of them several +. 

What number of the wise men, or magi, came to our 
Lord, is entirely unknown, and perhaps that of three was 
imagined for no other reason, than because the gifts 
which they brought were of three sorts. The occasion of 
their coming is expressed by St. Matthew in their own 
words: (: Where is he that is born king of the Jews? 
for we are come to worship him." 

That a very extraordinary person was to appear under 
this character about that time was a very general per- 
suasion throughout the East ; as not only Jewish but 
heathen writers tell us, in conformity with the [New 
Testament. And that this person was to have dominion 
over the whole earth was part of that persuasion, founded 
on predictions of the clearest import. I need produce 
but one, from the above mentioned seventy-second 
Psalm, which, as I before observed, plainly relates to 
Christ. " All kings shall fall down before him : all na- 
tions shall do him service." There were Jews enow even 
in Persia, and much more in Arabia, to propagate this 
doctrine, and show it to be contained in their sacred 
books ; from whence therefore the wise men may well 
be supposed to have received it. 

But their knowledge, that he was actually born, must 
stand on some other foundation ; and what that was, 
themselves declare, u We have seen his star in the 

* Josh, x, 5. t Jerem. xxv, 20 — 26. 



20 LECTURE II. 

east *." This must plainly mean some new appearance 
in the sky, which they, whose profession (as is well 
known) led them peculiarly to the study of astronomy, 
had observed in the heavens. Now any appearance of 
a body of light in the air is called by the Greek and Latin 
authors a star, though it be only a meteor, that is, a tran- 
sient, accidental luminous vapour, neither of considera- 
ble height, nor long continuance ; in which sense also 
the Scripture speaks of stars falling from heaven f. And 
such was that which the wise men saw, as will appear 
from a circumstance to be mentioned hereafter. Possibly 
indeed the first light which surprised them might be that 
mentioned by St. Luke, when the glory of the Lord, de- 
scending from heaven, shone round about the shepherds, 
and his angel came upon them, to bring them the news 
of our Saviour's nativity f . For that glory, seen at a dis- 
tance, might have the appearance of a star ; and their 
seeing the star in the east is not to be understood as if 
they saw it to the eastward of themselves ; but means, 
that they, being eastward of Judea, saw the star, seem- 
ing probably to hang over that country. 

Now such an uncommon sight alone, supposing their 
expectation of him raised (as there was then a general 
expectation of him), might naturally incline them to 
think he was come ; and especially as it was a current 
opinion amongst persons professing skill in these matters, 
that the shining forth of a new star denoted the rise of a 
new kingdom, or of a great and extraordinary prince ; 
whence, as Pliny relates §, Augustus the Roman emperor 
said, that the comet, which appeared on Caesar's death, 
whom he succeeded, was born for him, and that he was 
born in that comet ; for so it seems he expressed himself. 

This, I say, being a current opinion, the wise men 
would be apt enough to conclude, that the present star 
betokened the birth of that Prince, of whom (as they 
might easily have heard) it had been so very long fore- 
told, " There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a 
sceptre shall rise out of Israel ||." And it is a very re- 
markable circumstance, that one of the ancient com- 
mentators on the Timaeus of Plato %, alluding to this very 
star, expresses himself in these words : " There is a still 

* Matt, ii, 2. f Matt, xxiv, 29 ; Mark xiii, 25. 

t Luke ii, 9. § Vide Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. ii, chap. 25. 

|| Num. xxiv, 17. % Chalcidius. 



MATTHEW I, II. 21 

more venerable and sacred tradition, which relates, that 
by the rising of a certain uncommon star was foretold, not 
diseases or deaths, but the descent of an adorable God for 
the salvation of the human race, and the melioration of 
human affairs; which star, they say, was observed by 
the Chaldeans, who came to present their offerings to the 
new-born God*." 

On their arrival at Jerusalem, and making the inquiry 
they came for, Herod we find was troubled, and all Jeru- 
salem with him. That so jealous a tyrant as Herod 
should be troubled at this event is no wonder ; and it is 
no less natural that the people also should be disturbed 
and alarmed, not knowing what the consequences of so 
extraordinary a birth might be. Herod, therefore, calls 
the chief priests and scribes together, and demands of 
them, whether it were known where the Christ should 
be born : and having learnt from them, that, according 
to the prophet Micah, Bethlehem was the place ap- 
pointed by Heaven, sends the wise men thither, with a 
request, that they would inform him when they had 
found the child, that-he also might go and pay him due 
homage, intending all the while to destroy him, when he 
had obtained the requisite intelligence. Accordingly 
the wise men proceeded on their journey from Jerusalem 
to Bethlehem ; when the same luminous appearance, 
which they had observed in their own country, now at- 
tended them again, to their very great joy, and con- 
ducting them at length to the very house where the child 
was ; which probably (as is common in villages) had no 
other house contiguous to it, and therefore might be easily 
marked by the situation of the meteor. 

When the wise men came into the house and saw the 
child, they fell down and worshipped him, that is, bowed 
and prostrated themselves before him, in the eastern 
manner of doing obeisance to kings. Whether they de- 
signed also paying him religious adoration, or how dis- 
tinct a knowledge had been given them of the nature 
and rank of the Saviour of the world, we cannot say ; 
but may be sure, that what they believed and what they 
did was at that time sufficient to procure them accept- 
ance with God. Indeed, according to the opinion of 
some ancient fathers concerning their presents, their 
faith must have been very great. For they represent the 

* See Brucker's History of Philosophy, vol. iii, p. 472. 



22 LECTURE H. 

incense, as offered to our Saviour as God ; the gold to 
have been paid as tribute to a king ; and the myrrh 
(a principal ingredient used in embalming) brought as 
an acknowledgment that he was to die for men. But 
others interpret the same gifts very differently, and take 
them to signify the three spiritual offerings, which we 
must all present to Heaven, through Jesus Christ j the 
incense, to denote piety towards God ; the gold, charity 
towards our fellow- creatures ; and the myrrh, purity of 
soul and body ; it being highly efficacious in preserving 
them from corruption. But though either or both these 
notions may be piously and innocently entertained, yet 
all we know with certainty is, that, in those parts of the 
world, no one did then or does now appear before a 
prince, without a suitable present, usually of the most 
valuable commodities of his country ; and that three of 
the principal productions of the East, particularly of 
Arabia, were gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

How the wise men were affected with the sight of so 
unspeakably important a person, in such mean circum- 
stances ; or Joseph and Mary, and all that must flock 
around them, with so humble an address from strangers 
of such high dignity ; and what further passed in conse-^ 
quence of this on either side, every one may in some 
degree imagine \ but no one can undertake to relate, 
since the Gospels do not. We are there only told, that 
these respectable visitors, having paid their "duty in this 
manner, and being warned of God not to return to He- 
rod, " departed into their own country another way*." 

Thus ends this remarkable piece of history, in which 
all the circumstances are so perfectly conformable to 
the manners, the customs, the prevailing opinions and 
notions of those times, in which the narrative is supposed 
to have been written, that they tend greatly to confirm 
the truth and credibility of the sacred history. I have 
already in going along touched slightly on some of these 
circumstances, but it may be useful here to draw them 
all into one point of view. 

1. In the first place, then, the journey of these wise 
men, and the object of it, namely, to find out him who 
was born king of the Jews, corresponds exactly to the 
information given by several heathen authors t, that 

* Matt, ii, 12. 

t Vide Tacit. Hist, v, 13. Sueton, in Vita Vesp. c. 4. 



MATTHEW I, II. 23 

there was in those days a general expectation of some 
very extraordinary personage, who was to make his ap- 
pearance at that particular period of time, and in that 
particular part of the world. 

2. If the birth of this extraordinary personage was 
marked by a new star or meteor in the heavens, it was 
very natural that it should rirst strike the observation of 
those called the wise men, who lived in a country where the 
stars and the planets shone with uncommon lustre, 
where the science of astronomy was (for that reason 
perhaps) particularly cultivated, where it was the 
peculiar profession of these very magi, or wise men : and 
where no remarkable appearance in the heavens could 
escape the many curious eyes that were constantly fixed 
upon them. 

3. The manner, in which these wise men approached 
our Lord, is precisely that in which the people always 
addressed themselves to men of high rank and dignity. 

They worshipped him ; that is, they prostrated them- 
selves to the ground before him ;, which we know was 
then, and still is, the custom of those countries. 

They offered presents to him : and it is well known, that 
without a present no gTeat man was at that time, or is 
now, approached. 

These presents were gold, frankincense, and myrrh ; 
and these, as we have before observed, were the natural 
productions of that country whence the wise men are 
supposed to have come, namely, Arabia or Sabaea. 

Even that dreadful transaction, which was the un- 
fortunate consequence of their journey, the murder of 
the innocents, exactly corresponds with the character of 
Herod, who was one of the most cruel and ferocious 
tyrants that ever disgraced a throne, and amongst other 
horrible barbarities had put to death a son of his own. 
Me wonder, then, that his jealousy should prompt him 
to murder a number of infants not at all related to him. 

All these circumstances concur to prove, that the 
sacred historians lived in the times and the countries 
in which they are supposed to have written the Gospels, 
and were perfectly well acquainted with every thing 
they relate. Had not this been the case, they must 
have been detected in an error, in some of the many 
incidents they touched upon ; which yet has never hap- 
pened. 

4. It is also, in the last place, worth} of remark, that 



24 LECTURE II. 

every thing is here related with the greatest plainness, 
brevity, and simplicity, without any of that ostentation 
and parade, which we so often meet with in other au- 
thors. Thus, for instance, a heathen writer would have 
put a long and eloquent speech into the mouth of the 
wise men, and would have provided the parents of the 
infant with a suitable answer. He would have painted 
the massacre of the infants in the most dreadful colours, 
and would have drawn a most affecting picture of the 
distress and agony of their afflicted parents. But the 
evangelists have not enlarged on these, or any other 
similar topics. They have contented themselves with 
telling their story concisely and coldly, with a bare 
simple recital of the facts, without attempting to work 
upon the passions, or excite the admiration of their 
readers. 

In fact, it appears from this, and a variety of other in- 
stances of the same nature, that neither fame nor repu- 
tation, nor any other worldly advantage, had the least 
influence upon their hearts. Their sole object was the 
advancement of truth, of morality, of religion, of the 
eternal welfare and salvation of mankind. For these 
great objects they wrote, for these they lived, for these 
they suffered, and for these they died : on these their 
thoughts were entirely and immoveabl y fixed, and there- 
fore their narratives justly claim the most implicit be- 
lief in every thing that relates to these great, and im- 
portant, and interesting subjects. 

Another observation, which this part of the sacred his- 
tory suggests to us, is this ; that no person ever yet ap- 
peared in the world, to whom such distinguished marks 
of honour were paid from his birth to his death, as our 
blessed Lord. We are often reproached with the mean 
condition of our Redeemer. We are often told, that he, 
whom we have chosen for onr Lord and Master, who is 
the object of our adoration, and on whom all our hopes 
are fixed, was the reputed son of a carpenter, lived in 
penury and distress, and at last suffered the ignominious 
death of the cross. All this is true. But it is equally 
true, that this man of indigence and of sorrow appeared 
through his whole life to be the peculiar favourite of 
Heaven ; and to have been considered, not indeed by his 
infatuated countrymen, but by beings of a far superior 
order, the most important personage that ever appeared 
on this earthly scene. At his birth, we are told, that 



MATTHEW I, II. 25 

tke glory of the Lord shone round about certain shep - 
herds, that were then keeping watch over their flocks by- 
night ; and there was a multitude of the heavenly host, 
praising God, and saying, " Glory to God in the highest, 
and on earth peace, good- will towards men*." 

Not long after this, a new star or meteor appeared in 
the heavens, on purpose to announce his birth, which ac- 
cordingly (as we have just seen) attracted the notice of 
those illustrious strangers, who came from a distant 
country to pay their homage to the infant Jesus ; whom, 
notwithstanding the humility of his condition and of his 
habitation, they hailed as king of the Jews. At his bap- 
tism, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the 
Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon 
himt. After his temptation, when he had vanquished 
the prince of darkness, behold, angels came and mi- 
nistered unto him:}:. At his transfiguration, his face did 
shine as the sun, and his raiment was bright as the light, 
and there appeared Closes and Elias talking with him, 
and from the cloud, which overshadowed them, there 
came a voice, saying, " This is my beloved Son, in whom 
I am well pleased ; hear ye him§." At his agony in the 
garden, there appeared an angel unto him, strengthening 
him || . At his crucifixion, all nature seemed to be thrown 
into convulsions : the sun was darkened ; the vail of the 
temple was rent in twain, from the top to the bottom ; 
the earth did quake, and the rocks rent ; the graves were 
opened, and gave up their dead ; and even the heathen 
centurion, and those that were with him, were compelled 
to cry out, " Truly this was the Son of Godlf." Before 
his ascension, he said to his disciples, " All power is 
given to me in heaven and in earth. And while he yet 
blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up 
into heaven, and a cloud received him out of their 
sight**." There, we are told, he sitteth at the right 
hand of God, making intercession for the sinful race of 
man, till he comes a second time in the glory of his 
Father, with all his holy angels, to judge the world. 
There has God " highly exalted him above all princi- 
palities, and power, and might, and dominion, and given 
him a name which is above every name ; that at the 

* Luke ii, 14. f Matt, iii, 16. % Id.iv, 11. 

$ Id.xvii, 5. !| Lukexxii, 43. f Matt, xxvii, 54. 

** Matt, xxviii, 18; Luke xxiv, 51. 

D 



26 LECTURE II. 

name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in hea- 
ven, and things in earth, and things under the earth ; 
and that every tongue should confess, that Jesus Christ 
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father *." 

When all these circumstances are taken together, 
what a magnificent idea do they present to us of the 
humble Jesus, and how does all earthly splendour fade 
and die away under this overbearing effulgence of 
celestial glory ! We need not then be ashamed, either 
of the birth, the life, or the death of Christ, " for they 
are the power of God unto salvation." And if the great 
and the wise men, whose history we have been consi- 
dering, were induced, by the appearance of a new star, 
to search out, with no small labour and fatigue, the in- 
fant Saviour of the world ; if they, though philosophers 
and deists (far different from the philosophers and deists 
of the present day), disdained not to prostrate themselves 
before him, and present to him the richest and the 
choicest gifts they had to offer ; well may we, when this 
child of the Most High is not only grown to maturity, 
but has lived, and died, and risen again for us, and is 
now set down at the right hand of God (angels, and prin- 
cipalities, and powers being made subject to him) ; well 
may we not only pay our homage, but our adoration to the 
Son of God, and offer to him oblations far more precious 
than gold, frankincense, and myrrh ; namely, ourselves, 
our souls and our bodies, "as a reasonable, holy, and 
lively sacrifice unto him ;" well may we join with that 
innumerable multitude in heaven, which is continually 
praising him, and saying ; " Blessing, and honour, and 
glory be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto 
the Lamb for ever and evert." 

* Philipp. ii, 9 — 1 1 . t Rev. v, 1 3. 



LECTURE III. 



MATTHEW III. 

The subject of this Lecture will be the third chapter of 
St. Matthew, in which we have the history of a very 
extraordinary person, called John the Baptist, to dis- 
tinguish him from another John mentioned in the Xew 
Testament, who was our Saviour's beloved disciple, and 
the author of the Gospel that bears his name, whence 
he is called John the Evangelist. 

As the character of John the Baptist is in many re- 
spects a very remarkable one, and his appearance bears 
a strong testimony to the divine mission of Christ and 
the truth of his religion, I shall enter pretty much at 
large into the particulars of his history, as they are to 
be found, not only in the Gospel of St. Matthew, but 
in the other three Evangelists ; collecting from each all 
the material circumstances of his life, from the time of 
his first appearance in the wilderness to his murder by 
Herod. 

St. Matthew's account of him is as follows : " In those 
days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness 
of Judea, and saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of 
heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of 
by the prophet Isaiah, saying, Prepare ye the way of the 
Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had 
his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about 
his loins, and his meat was locusts and wild honey. 
And there went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea, 
and all the regions round about Jordan, and were bap- 
tized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins*." 

Here then we have a person, who appears to have 

* Matt, iii, 1 — 6. 



28 LECTURE III. 

been sent into the world on purpose to be the precursor 
of our Lord, to prepare the way for him and his religion, 
here called " the kingdom of heaven/' and, as the pro- 
phet expresses it, to " make his paths straight." This 
is a plain allusion to the custom that prevailed in eastern 
countries, of sending messengers and pioneers to make 
the ways level and straight before kings and princes, 
and other great men, when they passed through the 
country with large retinues, and with great pomp and 
magnificence. They literally lowered mountains, they 
raised valleys, they cut down woods, they removed all 
obstacles, they cleared away all roughnesses and in- 
equalities, and made every thing smooth, and plain, and 
commodious for the great personage whom they pre- 
ceded. 

In the same manner was John the Baptist in a spiri- 
tual sense to "go before the Lord," before the Saviour 
of the world, to prepare his way, to make his paths 
straight, to remove out of the minds of men every thing 
that opposed itself to the admission of divine truth, all 
prejudice, blindness, pride, obstinacy, self-conceit, va- 
nity, and vain philosophy ; but, above all, to subdue 
and regulate those depraved affections, appetites, pas- 
sions, and inveterate habits of wickedness, which are 
the grand obstacles to conversion and the reception of 
the word of God. 

His exhortation therefore was, " Repent ye :" renounce 
those vices and abominations, which at present blind 
your eyes and cloud your understandings, and then you 
will be able to see the truth and bear the light. This 
was the method which John took, the instrument he 
made use of to extirpate out of the minds of his hearers 
all impediments to the march of the Gospel, or, as the 
prophetic language most sublimely expresses it, " He 
cried aloud to them, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, 
make straight the highway for our God. Let every 
valley be exalted, and every mountain and hill be made 
low ; let the crooked be made straight, and the rough 
places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be re- 
vealed, and all flesh shall see it*." 

What a magnificent preparation is this for the great 
Founder of our religion ! What an exalted idea must 
it give us of his dignity and importance, to have a fore- 

* Isaiah xl, 3— 5. 



MATTHEW ffl. 29 

runner and a harbinger, such as John, to proclaim his 
approach to the world, and call upon all mankind to 
attend to him ! It was a distinction peculiar and appro- 
priate to him. Neither Moses nor any of the prophets 
can boast this mark of honour. It was reserved for the 
Son of God, the Messiah, the Redeemer of mankind, 
and was well suited to the transcendent dignity of his 
person, and the grandeur of his design. 

The place which St. John chose for the exercise of his 
ministry was the wilderness of Judaea, where he seems 
to have lived constantly from his birth to the time of his 
preaching ; for St. Luke informs us, that " he was in the 
wilderness till the time of his showing unto Israel*." 
Here it appears he lived with great austerity ; for he 
drank neither wine nor strong drink ; a rule frequently 
observed by the Jews, when they devoted themselves to 
the stricter exercises of religion : and his meat was 
locusts and wild honey ; such simple food as the desert 
afforded to the lowest of its inhabitants : for eating some 
sorts of locusts was not only permitted by the law of 
Moses, but, as travellers inform us, is common in the 
East to this day. The clothing of the Baptist was no 
less simple than his diet. His raiment, we are told, was 
of camel's hair, with a leathern girdle about his loins ; 
the same coarse habit which the meaner people usually 
wore, and which sometimes even the rich assumed as a 
garb of mourning. For this raiment of camel's hair was 
nothing else than that sackcloth, which we so often read 
of in Scripture. And as almost every thing of moment 
was, in those nations and those times, expressed by 
visible signs as well as by words, the prophets also were 
generally clothed in this dress, because one principal 
branch of their office was to call upon men to mourn for 
their sins: and particularly Elias, or Elijah, is described 
in the Second Book of Kings as a hairy many, that is, a 
man clothed in haircloth, or sackcloth (as John was), 
with a leathern girdle about his loins. Even in outward 
appearance, therefore, John was another Elias ; but much 
more so as he was endued, according to the angel's pre- 
diction, with the spirit and power of Elias $. Both rose 
up among the Jews in times of universal corruption ; 
both were authorized to denounce speedy vengeance 
from Heaven, unless they repented ; both executed their 

* Luke i, 80, t 2 Kings i, 8. z Luke i, 17, 

D3 



30 LECTURE III. 

commission with the same intrepid zeal ; both were per- 
secuted for it : yet nothing deterred either Elias from 
accusing Ahab to his face, or John from rebuking Herod 
in the same undaunted manner. 

But here an apparent difficulty occurs, and the sacred 
writers are charged with making our Lord and St. John 
flatly contradict each other. 

When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusa- 
lem to ask John who he was, and particularly whether 
he was Elias; his answer was, "I am not*:" but yet 
our Lord told the Jews, that John was the Elias which 
was to come t. How is this contradiction to be recon- 
ciled 1 Without any kind of difficulty. The Jews had 
an expectation, founded on a literal interpretation of the 
prophet Malachi;}:, that, before the Messiah came, that 
very same Elias, or Elijah, who lived and prophesied in 
the time of Ahab, would rise from the dead and appear 
again upon Earth. John, therefore, might very truly say, 
that he was not that Elias. But yet, as we have seen 
that he resembled Elias in many striking particulars ; as 
the angel told Zacharias, that he should come in the 
spirit and power of Elias ; and as he actually approved 
himself, in the turn and manner of his life, in his doc- 
trine, and his conduct, the very same man to the latter 
Jews, which the other had been to the former, our 
Saviour might with equal truth assure his disciples, 
that John was that Elias, whose coming the prophet 
Malachi had in a figurative sense foretold. This dif- 
ficulty, we see, is so easily removed, that I should not 
have thought it worth noticing in this place, had it 
not been very lately revived, with much parade, in one 
of those coarse and blasphemous publications, which 
have been dispersed in this country with so much acti- 
vity, in order to disseminate vulgar infidelity among the 
lower orders of the people, but which are now sinking 
fast into oblivion and contempt. This is one specimen 
of what they call their arguments against Christianity ; 
and from this specimen you will judge of all the rest. 
But to return : 

The abstemiousness and rigour of the Baptist's life 
was calculated to produce very important effects. It 
was fitted to excite great attention and reverence in the 
minds of his hearers. It was well suited to the doctrine 

* John i, 21. t Matt, xi, 14. % Malachi iv, 5. 



MATTHEW III. 31 

he was to preach, that of repentance and contrition; to 
the seriousness he wished to inspire, and to the terror 
which he was appointed to impress on impenitent of- 
fenders. And perhaps it was further designed to in- 
timate the need there often is of harsh restraints in the 
beginning of virtue, as the easy familiarity of our Lord's 
manner and behaviour exhibits the delightful freedom 
which attends the perfection of it. At least, placing 
these two characters, in view of the world, so near 
to each other, must teach men this very instructive 
lesson ; that though severity of conduct may, in various 
cases, be both prudent and necessary, yet the mildest 
and cheerfullest goodness is the completest; and they 
the most useful to religion, who are able to converse 
among sinners without risking their innocence, as dis- 
creet physicians do among the sick without endangering 
their health. 

It is remarkable, however, that whatever mortifica- 
tions John practised himself, it does not appear that he 
prescribed any thing to others beyond the ordinary du- 
ties of a good life. His disciples, indeed, fasted often, 
and so did many of the Jews besides ; probably, there- 
fore, the former, as well as the latter, by their own 
choice. His general injunction was only, "bring forth 
fruits meet for repentance*." When more particular 
directions were desired, he commanded all sorts of men 
to avoid more especially the sins, to which their condi- 
tion most exposed them. Thus, when the people asked 
him (the common people of that hard-hearted nation), 
"What shall we do?" John answered, "He, that 
hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none ; 
and he, that hath meat, let him do likewise f." That 
is, let every one of you, according to his abilities, 
exercise those duties of charity and kindness to his 
neighbour, which you are all of you but too apt to 
neglect. The publicans or farmers of the revenue came 
to him, and said, "Master, what shall we do V And 
he said, " Exact no more than that which is appointed 
you:}:." Keep clear from that rapine and extortion, of 
which you are so often guilty in the collection of the 
revenue. The soldiers too demanded of him, " What 
shall we do §1" His answer was, " Do violence to no 

* Matt, iii, 8. t Luke iii, 10, 1 1 . 

t Luke iii, 12, 13, $ Luke iii, 14. 



32 LECTURE III. 

man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with 
your wages," That is, abstain from those acts of in- 
justice, violence, and oppression, to which your profes- 
sion too often leads you. Lewd and debauched people 
also applied to him, to whom, no doubt, he gave advice 
suited to their case. And therefore what he taught was, 
not ceremonial observances, but moral conduct on reli- 
gious principle ; and without this he pronounced (how- 
ever disgusting the doctrine must be to a proud and su- 
perstitious people) the highest outward privileges to be 
of no value at all. " Think not," said he to the Jews, 
" to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our 
father," and are therefore sure of God's favour, be our 
conduct what it may ; " for I say unto you, that God is 
able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham*;" 
is able to make the most stupid and ignorant of these 
heathens, whom you so utterly despise, converts to true 
religion, and heirs of the promises. 

Such were the doctrines which John preached to his 
disciples, and the success which attended him was equal 
to their magnitude and importance. 

This was plainly foretold by the angel, that announced 
his birth to his father Zacharias. " Many of the chil- 
dren of Israel," said he, " shall he turn to the Lord 
their Godf." Which in fact he did : for the evangelists 
tell us, that " there went out unto him into the wilder- 
ness, Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round 
about Jordan, and were baptized of him:}:." The truth 
of this is amply confirmed by Josephus, who informs us, 
that multitudes flocked to him, for they were greatly de- 
lighted with his discourses §. 

It might naturally be expected, that such extraor- 
dinary popularity and applause as this would fill him 
with conceit and vanity, and inspire him with a most 
exalted opinion of his own abilities, and a sovereign 
contempt for any rival teacher of religion. But so far 
from this, the most prominent feature of his character 
was an unexampled modesty and humility. Though 
he had been styled by Malachi the messenger of the 
Lord, and even Elias (the chief prophet of the Jew r s, 
next to Moses), he never assumed any higher title 
than that very humble one given him by Isaiah, " the 

* Matt. Hi, 9. t Luke i, 16. 

X Matt, iii, 5, 6. § Joseph. Antiq. Jud. xviii, 2, ed, Huds. 



MATTHEW III. 33 

voice of one crying in the wilderness/' Far from desir- 
ing or attempting to fix the admiration of the multitude 
on his own person, he gave notice, from his first appear- 
ance, of another immediately to follow him, for whom he 
was unworthy to perform the most servile offices. He 
made a scruple, till expressly commanded, of baptizing 
one so infinitely purer than himself, as he knew the holy 
Jesus to be. And when his disciples complained, that all 
men deserted him to follow Christ (a most mortifying cir- 
cumstance, had worldly applause, or interest, or power, 
been his point), nothing could be more ingenuously self- 
denying than his answer; " Ye yourselves bear me wit- 
ness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but am sent before 
him. He, that hath the bride, is the bridegroom ; but 
the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and hear 
eth him, rejoiceth greatly. This my joy, therefore, is 
fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He, 
that is of the earth, is earthly; he, that cometh from 
heaven, is above all*." 

Of such unaffected and disinterested humility as this, 
where shall we find, except in Christ, another instance 1 
Yet with this was by no means united what we are too 
apt to associate with our idea of humility, " meanness 
and timidity of spirit ; " on the contrary, the whole con- 
duct of the Baptist was marked throughout with the 
most intrepid courage and magnanimity in the discharge 
of his duty. 

Instead of paying any court, either to the great men of 
his nation on the one hand, or to the multitude on the 
other, he reproved the former for their hypocrisy in the 
strongest terms ; "0 generation of vipers, who hath 
warned you to flee from the wrath to cometV and he 
required the latter to renounce every one of those fa- 
vourite sins which they had long indulged, and were 
most unwilling to part with. But what is still more, 
he reproved, without fear and without reserve, the 
abandoned and ferocious Herod, for injuriously taking 
away Herodias, his brother's wife, and afterwards in- 
cestuously marrying her, and for all the other evil that 
he had done. He well knew the savage and unrelenting 
temper of that sanguinary tyrant ; he knew that this 
boldness of expostulation would sooner or later bring 
down upon him the whole weight of his resentment. 

* John iii, 28— 31 . t Matt, iii, 7. 



34 LECTURE III. 

But knowing also, that he was sent into the world to 
preach repentance to all, and feeling it his duty to cry 
aloud and spare not, to spare not even the greatest and 
most exalted of sinners, he determined not to shrink 
from that duty, but to obey his conscience, and take 
the consequences. 

Those consequences were exactly what he must have 
foreseen. He was first shut up in prison ; and not long 
afterwards, as you all know, the life of this great and 
innocent man was wantonly sacrificed, in the midst of 
conviviality and mirth, to the rash oath of a worthless 
and a merciless prince, to the licentious fascinations of 
a young woman, and the implacable vengeance of an 
old one. 

After this short history of the doctrines, the life, and 
the death of this extraordinary man, I beg leave to offer, 
in conclusion, a few remarks upon it to your serious con- 
sideration. 

And, in the first place, in the testimony of John the 
Baptist, we have an additional and powerful evidence 
to the truth and the divine authority of Christ and his 
religion. 

If the account given of John in the Gospels be true, 
the history given there of Jesus must be equally so, for 
they are plainly parts of one and the same plan, and are 
so connected and interwoven with each other, that they 
must either stand or fall together. 

Now that in the first place there did really exist such 
a person as John the Baptist, at the time specified by 
the evangelists, there cannot be the smallest doubt ; for 
he is mentioned by the Jewish historian Josephus ; and 
all the circumstances he relates of him, as far as they 
go, perfectly correspond with the description given of 
him by the sacred historians. He represents him as 
using the ceremony of baptism. He says, that multitudes 
flocked to him, for they were greatly delighted with his 
discourses, and ready to observe all his directions. He 
asserts that he was a good man ; and that he exhorted 
the Jews not to come to his baptism without first pre- 
paring themselves for it by the practice of virtue ; that 
is, in the language of the Gospels, without repentance. 
He relates his being inhumanly murdered by Herod ; 
and adds, that the Jews in general entertained so high 
an opinion of the innocence, virtue, and sanctity of 
John, as to be persuaded that the destruction of Herod's 



MATTHEW III. 35 

army, which happened not long after, was a divine 
judgment inflicted on him for his barbarity to so ex- 
cellent a man*. 

It appears, then, that St. John was a person, of whose 
virtue, integrity, and piety, we have the most ample tes- 
timony from an historian of unquestionable veracity, and 
we may therefore rely with perfect confidence on every 
thing he tells us. He was the very man foretold both 
by Isaiah and Malachi, as the forerunner of that Divine 
Personage, whom the Jews expected under the name of 
the Messiah. He declared, that Jesus Christ was this 
Divine Person, and that he himself was sent into the 
world on purpose to prepare the way before him, by ex- 
horting men to repentance and reformation of life. If 
then this record of John (as the evangelist calls it) be 
true, the divine mission ot Christ is at once established, 
because the Baptist expressly asserts that he was the 
Son of God, and that whoever believed on him should 
have everlasting lifet. ]\ow that this record is true, we 
have every reason in the world to believe, not only be- 
cause a man so eminently distinguished for every moral 
virtue, as St. John confessedly was, cannot be thought 
capable of publicly proclaiming a deliberate falsehood ; 
but because, had his character been of a totally different 
complexion, had he for instance been influenced only by 
views of interest, ambition, vanity, popularity, this very 
falsehood must have completely counteracted and over- 
set every project of this nature. For every thing he said 
of Jesus, instead of aggrandizing and exalting himself, 
tended to lower and to debase him in the eyes of all the 
world ; he assured the multitude, who followed him, 
that there was another person much more worthy to be 
followed ; that there was one coming after him" of far 
greater dignity and consequence than himself; one, 
whose shoes' latchet he was not worthy to unloose £ ; one 
so infinitely superior to him in rank, authority, and wis- 
dom, that he was not fit to perform for him even the 
most servile offices. He himself was only come as a 
humble messenger to announce the arrival of his Lord, 
and smooth the way before him. But the great person- 
age to whom they were to direct their eyes, and in whom 

* Joseph. Antiq. lib.xviii, cap. vi, sec. ii, ed. Huds. 

t John iii, 6 ; i, 34. \ Mark i, 7; Ltrke iii, 15. 



36 LECTURE III, 

they were to centre all their hopes, was Jesus Christ* 
Is this now the language of a man, who sought only for 
honour, emolument, or fame, or was actuated only by 
the fond ambition of being at the head of a sect 1 No 
one can think so. It is not very usual, surely, for men of 
any character, much less for men of the best character, 
to invent and to utter a string of falsehoods, with the 
professed design of degrading themselves and exalting 
some other person. Yet this was the plain tendency and 
avowed object of John's declarations ; and the effect was 
exactly what might be expected, and what he wished 
and intended, namely, that great numbers deserted him 
and followed Christ*. 

But besides bearing this honest and disinterested tes- 
timony to Christ, the Baptist hazarded a measure, which 
no impostor or enthusiast ever ventured upon, without 
being immediately detected and exposed. He ventured 
to deliver two prophecies concerning Christ ; prophecies, 
too, which were to be completed, not at some distant 
period, when both he and his hearers might be in their 
graves, and the prophecy itself forgot, but within a very 
short space of time, when every one who heard the pre- 
diction might be a witness to its accomplishment or its 
failure. He foretold, that " Jesus should baptize with 
the Holy Ghost and with fire," and that "he should be 
offered up as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind t." These 
were very singular things for a man to foretel at hazard 
and from conjecture, because nothing could be more re- 
mote from the ideas of a Jew, or more unlikely to hap- 
pen in the common course of things. They were more- 
over of that peculiar nature, that it was utterly impos- 
sible for John and Jesus to concert the matter between 
themselves ; for the completion of the prophecies did 
not depend solely on them, but required the concurrence 
of other agents ; of the Holy Ghost in the first instance, 
and of the Jews and the Roman governor in the other ; 
and unless these had entered into a confederacy with the 
Baptist and with Christ, to fulfil what John foretold, it 
was not in the power of either to secure the completion 
of it. Yet both these prophecies were, we know, ac- 
tually accomplished within a very few years after they 
were delivered ; for our Lord suffered death upon the 

*.John iii, 26, 30; iv, 1. f Matt. Hi, 11 ; John i, 29. 



MATTHEW III. 37 

cross for the redemption of the world ; and the Holy 
Ghost descended visibly upon the apostles in the sem- 
blance of fire on the day of Pentecost*. 

It is evident, then, that the Baptist was not only a good 
man, but a true prophet ; and, for both reasons, his tes- 
timony in favour of Christ, that he was the Son of God, 
affords an incontestable proof, that both he and his re- 
ligion came from Heaven. 

2. The history of the Baptist affords a proof also of 
another point of no small importance. It gives a strong 
confirmation to that great evangelical doctrine, the doc- 
trine of atonement; the expiation of our sins by the 
sacrifice of Christ upon the cross. 

We are often told, that there was no need for this ex- 
piation. That repentance and reformation are fully suf- 
ficient to restore the most abandoned sinners to the fa- 
vour of a just and merciful God, and to avert the punish- 
ment due to their offences. 

But what does the great herald and forerunner of 
Christ say to this? He came professedly as a preacher 
of repentance. This was his peculiar office, the great 
object of his mission, the constant topic of his exhorta- 
tions. " Repent ye, and bring forth fruits meet for re- 
pentance t." This was the unceasing language of " the 
voice crying in the wilderness." 

If, then, repentance alone had sufficient efficacy for the 
expiation of sin, surely we should have heard of this 
from him who came on purpose to preach repentance. 
But what is the case 1 Does he tell us, that repentance 
alone will take away the guilt of our transgressions, and 
justify us in the eyes of our Maker 1 Quite the contrary. 
Notwithstanding the great stress he justly lays on the 
indispensable necessity of repentance, yet he tells his 
followers at the same time, that it was to Christ only, 
and to his death, that they were to look for the pardon 
of their sins. " Behold," says he, " the Lamb of God, 
which taketh away the sins of the world £ ! " And again, 
" he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life ; and 
he that believeth not the Son hath not life, but the wrath 
of God abideth on him§." Since, then, the expiation of 
sin by the sacrifice of Christ is a doctrine not only taught 

* Acts ii, 2. t Matt, iii, 2, 8. 

t Luke i, 29. § John iii, 36. > 

E 



38 LECTURE III. 

in the Gospel itself, but enforced also by him, who came 
only to prepare the way for it ; it is evident, from the 
care taken to apprise the world of it even before Chris- 
tianity was promulgated, how important and essential a 
part this must be of that divine religion. 

Lastly. It will be of use to observe, what the particu- 
lar method was, which John made use of to prepare men 
for the reception and the belief of the Gospel ; for what- 
ever means he applied to the attainment of that end, the 
same probably we shall find the most efficacious for a 
similar purpose at this very day. 

Now it is evident, that the Baptist addressed himself, 
in the first instance, not to the understanding, but to the 
heart. He did not attempt to convince his hearers, but 
to reform them ; he did not say to them, Go and study 
the prophets, examine with care the pretensions of him, 
whom I announce, and weigh accurately all the evi- 
dences of his divine mission : he well knew how all this 
would end, in the then corrupt state of their minds. His 
exhortation was, therefore, " Repent ye, for the kingdom 
of heaven is at hand." It was on this principle he re- 
proved with so much severity the Pharisees and Saddu- 
cees, who came to his baptism, whom one would think 
he should rather have encouraged and commended, and 
received with open arms. " O generation of vipers, who 
hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come 1 Bring 
forth, therefore, fruits meet for repentance*." Till you 
have done this, till you have purified your hearts and 
abandoned your sins, my baptism will be of no use to 
you, and all the reasoning in the world will have no 
effect upon you. In perfect conformity to this, Josephus 
informs us, that John exhorted the Jews not to come to 
his baptism, without first preparing themselves for it 
by the practice of virtue, by a strict adherence to the 
rules of equity and justice in their dealings with one 
another, and by manifesting a sincere piety towards 
God. 

This is the preparation he required ; and thus it is 
that we also must prepare men for the reception of di- 
vine truth. We must first reform, and then convince 
them. It is not in general the want of evidence, but the 
want of virtue, that makes men infidels ; let them cease 

* Matt, iii, 7, 8. 



MATTHEW III. 39 

to be wicked, and they will soon cease to be unbelievers. 
" It is with the heart," says St. Paul (not with the head), 
" that man believeth unto righteousness*." Correct the 
heart, and all will go right. Unless the soil is good, all 
the seed you cast upon it will be wasted in vain. In 
the parable of the sower we find, that the only seed, 
which came to perfection, was that which fell on good 
ground, on an honest and a good heart. This is the first 
and most essential requisite to belief. Unbelievers com- 
plain of the mysteries of revelation ; but we have the 
highest authority for saying, that, in general, the only 
mystery, which prevents them from receiving it, is the 
mystery of iniquity. 

We hear, indeed, a great deal of the good nature, the 
benevolence, the generosity, the humanity, the honour, 
and the other innumerable good qualities of those that 
reject the Gospel ; and they may possibly possess some 
ostentatious and popular virtues, and may keep clear 
from flagrant and disreputable vices. But whether some 
gross depravity, some inveterate prejudice, or some leaven 
of vanity and self-conceit, does not commonly lurk in 
their hearts, and influence both their opinions and their 
practices, they, who have an extensive acquaintance 
with the writings and the conduct of that class of men, 
will find no difficulty in deciding. If, however, this was 
the decision of man only, the justness of it might be con- 
troverted, and the competency of the judge denied. It 
might be said, that it is unbecoming and presumptuous 
in any human being to pass severe censures on large 
bodies of men ; and that, without being able to look into 
the heart of man, it is impossible to form a right judg- 
ment of his moral character. This we do not deny. But 
if he, who actually has that power of looking into the 
heart of man, if he, who is perfectly well acquainted 
with human nature, and all the various characters of 
men ; if he has declared, that " men love darkness rather 
than light, because their deeds are evilt," who will 
controvert the truth of that decision? On this authority, 
then, we may securely rely, and may rest assured, that 
whatever pretences may be set up for rejecting revela- 
tion, the grand obstacles to it are indolence, indiffer- 
ence, vice, passion, prejudice, self-conceit, pride, vanity, 

* Rom. x, 10. t John iii, 19. 



40 LECTURE III. 

love of singularity, a disdain to think with the vulgar, 
and an ambition to be considered as superior to the rest 
of mankind, in genius, penetration, and discernment. It 
is by removing these impediments in the first place, that 
we must prepare men, as St. John did, for embracing 
the religion of Christ. These (to make use of prophetic 
language) are the mountains, that must be made low ; 
these the crooked paths, that must be made straight; 
these the rough places, that must be made plain. Then 
all difficulties will be removed, and there will be a high- 
way for our God. Then there will be a smooth and 
easy approach for the Gospel to the understanding, as 
well as to the heart ; there will be nothing to oppose its 
conquest over the soul. The Glory of the Lord 

SHALL FULLY BE REVEALED, AND ALL FLESH SHALL SEX 
IT*. 

» Isaiah xl, 5. 



LECTURE IV. 



MATTHEW IV --Former Part. 

The fourth chapter of St. Matthew, at which we are now 
arrived, opens with an account of that most singular and 
extraordinary transaction, the Temptation of Christ 
in the wilderness. The detail of it is as follows : — 

" Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilder- 
ness, to be tempted of the devil ; and when he had fasted 
forty days and forty nights, he was afterwards an hun- 
gred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If 
thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be 
made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, 
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word, 
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the 
devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him 
on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou 
be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, 
He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in 
their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at anytime thou 
dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, Thou 
shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again the devil 
taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and 
showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the 
glory of them ; and saith unto him, All these things will 
I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 
Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan : for it 
is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and 
him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, 
and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him *." 

Such is the history given by the evangelists of our 
Lord's temptation, which has been a subject of much 
discussion among learned men. It is well known, in par- 

* Matt.iv, 1 — 11. 

E3 



42 LECTURE IV. 

ticular, that several ancient commentators, as well as 
many able and pious men of our own times, have thought 
that this temptation was not a real transaction, but only 
a vision or prophetic trance, similar to that which Eze- 
kiel describes in the eighth chapter of his prophecy, and 
to that which befel St. Peter, when he saw a vessel de- 
scending unto him from Heaven, and let down to the 
Earth *. And it must be acknowledged, that this opinion 
is supported by many specious arguments, and seems to 
remove some considerable difficulties. But upon the 
whole there are, I think, stronger reasons for adhering 
to the literal interpretation, than for recurring to a vi- 
sionary representation. 

For, in the first place, it is a rule admitted and esta- 
blished by the best and most judicious interpreters,, 
that, in explaining the sacred writings, we ought never, 
without the most apparent and most indispensable ne- 
cessity, to allow ourselves the liberty of departing from 
the plain, obvious, and literal meaning of the words. 
Now I conceive, that no such necessity can be alleged 
in the present instance. It is true, that there are in this 
narrative many difficulties, and many extraordinary, sur- 
prising, and miraculous incidents. But the whole his- 
tory of our Saviour is wonderful and miraculous from be- 
ginning to end ; and if, whenever we meet with a diffi- 
culty or a miracle, we may have recourse to figure, meta- 
phor, or vision, we shall soon reduce a great part of the 
sacred writings to nothing else. Besides, these difficul- 
ties will several of them admit of a fair solution ; and 
where they do not, as they affect no article of faith or 
practice, they must be left among those inscrutable mys- 
teries, which it is natural to expect in a revelation from 
Heaven. This we must after all be content to do, even 
if we adopt the idea of vision ; for even that does not re- 
move every difficulty, and it creates some that do not 
attach to the literal interpretation. 

2. In the next place, I cannot find, in any part of this 
narrative of the temptation, the slightest or most distant 
intimation, that it is nothing more than a vision. The 
very first words with which it commences seem to imply 
the direct contrary. " Then was Jesus led up of the 
Spiiit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil." 
Does not this say, in the most express terms, that our 

* Actsx, 10 — 16. 



MATTHEW IV. 43 

Lord was led, not in a dream, or trance, or vision, but 
was actually and literally led by the Spirit into the wil- 
derness of Judea 1 There is, I know, an interpretation, 
which explains away this obvious meaning. But that 
interpretation rests solely on the doubtful signification of 
a single Greek particle, which is surely much too slender 
a ground to justify a departure from the plain and literal 
sense of the passage. Certain it is, that if any one had 
meant to describe a real transaction, he could not have 
selected any expressions better adapted to that purpose 
than those actually made use of by the evangelist ; and 
I believe no one, at his first reading of our Lord's tempta- 
tion, ever entertained the slightest idea of its being a 
visionary representation. 

3. There is an observation, which has been made, and 
which has great weight in this question. It is this : all 
the prophets of the Old Testament, except Moses, saw 
visions, and dreamed dreams ; and the prophets of the 
New did the same. St. Peter had a vision, St. John saw 
visions, St. Paul had visions and dreams ; but Christ 
himself neither saw visions nor dreamed dreams. He 
had an intimate and immediate communication with the 
Father ; and he, and no one else in his days, had seen 
the Father. The case was the same with Moses ; he 
saw God face to face. " If there be a prophet among 
you," says God to Aaron and Miriam, " I the Lord will 
make myself known to him in a vision, and will speak 
unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who 
is faithful in all my house : with him will I speak mouth 
to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches ; 
and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold*." Now 
Moses, we all know, was a type of Christ ; and the re- 
semblance holds between them in this instance, as well 
as in many others. They neither of them had visions or 
dreams, but had both an immediate communication with 
God. They both " saw God face to facet." This was 
a distinction and a mark of dignity peculiar to those two 
only, to the great legislator of the Jews, and the great 
legislator of the Christians. It is therefore inconsistent 
with this high privilege, this mark of superior eminence, 
to suppose, that our Lord was tempted in a vision, when 
we see no other instance of a vision in the whole course 
of his ministry. 

4. There is still another consideration, which militates 

* Num.xii, 6 — 8. f Exod. xxxiii, 11. 



44 LECTURE IV. 

strongly against the supposition of a visionary tempta- 
tion. It was in itself extremely probable, that there 
should be a real and personal conflict between Christ and 
Satan, when the former was entering on his public mi- 
nistry. 

It is well known, that the great chief of the fallen 
angels, who is described in Scripture under the various 
names of Satan, Beelzebub, the Devil, and the Prince 
of the Devils, has ever been an irreconcileable enemy to 
the human race, and has been constantly giving the 
most decided and most fatal proofs of this enmity, from 
the beginning of the world to this hour. His hostility 
began with the very first creation of man upon Earth, 
when he no sooner discovered our first parents in that 
state of innocence and happiness, in which the gracious 
hand of the Almighty had just placed them, than, with 
a malignity truly diabolical, he resolved, if possible, to 
destroy all this fair scene of virtuous bliss, and to plunge 
them into the gulf of sin and misery. For this purpose 
he exerted all his art, and subtlety, and powers of per- 
suasion ; and how well he succeeded, we all know and 
feel. From that hour he established and exercised an 
astonishing dominion over the minds of men, leading 
them into such acts of folly, stupidity, and wickedness, 
as can on no other principle be accounted for. At the 
time of our Saviour's appearance, his tyranny seems to 
have arrived at its utmost height, and to have extended 
to the bodies as well as to the souls of men, of both 
which he sometimes took absolute possession : as we see 
in the history of those unhappy persons mentioned in 
Scripture, whom we call demoniacs, and who were truly 
said to be possessed by the devil. It was therefore ex- 
tremely natural to suppose, that when he found there 
was a great and extraordinary personage, who had just 
made his appearance in the world, who was said to be 
the Son of God, the promised Saviour of mankind, that 
seed of the woman, who was to bruise the serpent's head ; 
it was natural, that he should be exceedingly alarmed at 
these tidings ; that he should tremble for his dominion ; 
that he should first endeavour to ascertain the fact, 
whether this was really the Christ or not; and, if it 
turned out to be so, that he should exert his utmost 
efforts to subdue this formidable enemy, or at least to 
seduce him from his allegiance to God, and divert him 
from his benevolent purpose towards man. He had 
ruined the first Adam, and he might therefore flatter 



MATTHEW IV. 45 

himself with the hope of being equally successful with 
the second Adam. He had entailed a mortal disease on 
the human race ; and to prevent their recovery from that 
disease, and their restoration to virtue and to happiness, 
would be a triumph indeed, a conquest worthy of the 
prince of the devils. 

On the other hand, it was equally probable, that our 
blessed Lord would think it a measure highly proper, to 
begin his ministry with showing a decided superiority 
over the great adversary of man, whose empire he was 
going to abolish ; with manifesting to mankind, that the 
great Captain of their salvation was able to accomplish 
the important work he had undertaken, and with setting 
an example of virtuous firmness to his followers, which 
might encourage them to resist the most powerful tempt- 
ations, that the prince of darkness could throw in their 
way. 

These considerations, in addition to many others, 
afford a strong ground for believing, that the temptation 
of Christ in the wilderness was, as the history itself 
plainly intimates, a real transaction, a personal contest 
between the great enemy and the great Redeemer of the 
human race ; and in this point of view, therefore, I shall 
proceed to consider some of the most remarkable cir- 
cumstances attending it, and the practical uses resulting 
from it*. 

We are told, in the first place, that " Jesus was led up 
of the Spirit into the wilderness ;" that is, not by the 
evil spirit, but by the Spirit of God, by the suggestions 
and by the impulse of the Holy Ghost, of whose divine 
influences he was then full. For the time when this 

# It is an ingenious observation of a learned friend of mine, that 
the temptation of Christ in the wilderness bears an evident analogy 
to the trial of Adam in Paradise, and elucidates the nature of that 
trial in which the tempter prevailed and man fell. The second 
Adam, who undertook the cause of fallen men, was subjected to 
temptation by the same apostate spirit. Herein the tempter failed, 
and the second Adam, in consequence, became the restorer of the 
fallen race of the first. St. Paul, in more places than one, points 
out the resemblance between the first Adam and the second ; and 
the temptation in the wilderness exhibits a most interesting trans- 
action, where the second Adam was actually placed in a situation 
very similar to that of the first. The secrets of the Most High are 
unfathomable to short-sighted mortals ; but it would appear, from 
what may be humbly learnt and inferred from this transaction, that 
©iir blessed Lord's temptation by Satan was a necessary part in the 
Divine economy towards accomplishing the redemption of mankind. 



46 LECTURE IV. 

happened was immediately after his baptism, which is 
related in the conclusion of the preceding chapter. We 
are there informed, that " Jesus, when he was baptized, 
went up straightway out of the water ; and, lo ! the 
heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God de- 
scending like a dove, and lighting upon him ; and, lo ! 
a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in 
whom I am well pleased*. Then (it immediately fol- 
lows) was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness, 
to be tempted of the devil." In that moment of exalta- 
tion, when he was acknowledged by a voice from heaven 
to be the Son of God, and when the Spirit of God had 
taken full possession of his soul, then it was that Jesus 
went forth under the guidance of that Spirit, in full 
confidence of his divine power, into the wilderness, to 
encounter the prince of this world : a plain proof that 
this contest was a preconcerted design, a measure ap- 
proved by Heaven, and subservient to the grand design, 
in which our Saviour was engaged, of rescuing mankind 
from the dominion of Satan. 

The place into which our blessed Lord was thus led 
was " the wilderness/' probably the " great wilderness, " 
near the river Jordan, in which Jesus was baptized, and 
soon afterwards tempted. This wilderness is thus de- 
scribed by a traveller of great credit and veracity, who 
had himself seen it. "Ina few hours," says this writer,, 
" we arrived at that mountainous desert, in which our 
Saviour was led by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. 
It is a most miserable, dry, barren place, consisting of 
high rocky mountains, so torn and disordered as if the 
earth had suffered some great convulsion, in which its 
very bowels had been turned outward. On the left hand, 
looking down into a deep valley, as we passed along we 
saw some ruins of small cells and cottages, which we 
were told were formerly the habitations of hermits, re- 
tiring hither for penance and mortification ; and certainly 
there could not be found, in the whole earth, a more 
comfortless and abandoned place for that purpose. On 
descending from these hills of desolation into the plain, 
we soon came to the foot of Mount Quarantania, which 
they say is the mountain from whence the devil tempted 
our Saviour with that visionary scene of all the kingdoms 
and glories of this world. It is, as St. Matthew calls it, 
' an exceeding high mountain,' and in its ascent difficult 

* Matt, iii, 16, 17. 



MATTHEW IV. 47 

and dangerous. It has a small chapel at the top, and 
another about half way up, on a prominent part of a 
rock. Near this latter are several caves and holes in the 
sides of the mountain, made use of anciently by hermits, 
and by some at this day for places to keep their Lent in, 
in imitation of that of our blessed Saviour*." 

This was a theatre perfectly proper for the prince of 
the fallen angels to act his part upon, and perfectly well 
suited to his dark, malignant purposes. 

Here, then, after our Saviour (as Moses and Elijah had 
done before him) had endured a long abstinence from 
food, the devil abruptly and artfully assailed him with a 
temptation well calculated to produce a powerful effect 
on a person faint and worn out with fasting. "If thou 
be the Son of God, command that these stones be made 
bread." But our Saviour repelled this insidious advice, 
by quoting the words of Moses to the Israelites in the 
wilderness : " Man shall not live by bread alone, but by 
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of Godf." 
That is, he that brought me into this wilderness, and 
subjected me to these trials, can support me under the 
pressure of hunger, by a variety of means besides the 
common one of bread, just as he fed the Israelites in the 
wilderness with manna, with food from heaven. I will, 
therefore, rather choose to rely on his gracious provi- 
dence, for my support in this exigency, than work a 
miracle myself for the supply of my wants. 

This answer was perfectly conformable to the principle 
on which our Lord acted throughout the whole of his 
ministry. All his miracles were wrought for the benefit 
of others, not one for his own gratification. Though he 
endured hunger and thirst, and indigence and fatigue, 
and all the other evils of a laborious and an itinerant 
life, yet he never once relieved himself from any of these 
inconveniences, or procured a single comfort to himself, 
by the working of miracles. These were all appropriated 
to the grand object of proving the truth of his religion 
and the reality of his divine mission, and he never ap- 
plied them to any other purpose. And in this, as in all 
other cases, he acted with the most perfect wisdom ; for 
had he always or often delivered himself from the suf- 
ferings and the distresses incident to human nature, by 
the exertions of his miraculous powers, the benefit of his 

* Maundrell. t Deut. viii, 3; Matt, iv, 4. 



48 LECTURE IV. 

example would have been in a great measure lost to 
mankind, and it would have been of little use to us, that 
he " was in all things tempted like as we are*," because 
he would have been supported and succoured as we can- 
not expect to be. 

Having thus failed in attempting to work upon one of 
the strongest of the sensual appetites, hunger, the 
tempter's next application was to a different passion, 
but one, which, in some minds, is extremely powerful, 
and often leads to great folly and guilt, I mean vanity 
and self-importance. " He taketh our Lord into the holy 
city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and 
saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself 
down ; for it is written, He shall give his angels charge 
concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee 
up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a 
stone t." 

The place where our Saviour now stood was on a pin- 
nacle, or rather on a wing of the magnificent temple of 
Jerusalem, from whence there was a view of the vast 
concourse of people, who were worshipping in the area 
below. In this situation the seducer flattered himself, 
that our Saviour, indignant at the doubts, which he art- 
fully expressed, of his being the Son of God, would be 
eager to give him, and all the multitude that beheld 
them, a most convincing proof that he was so, by casting 
himself from the height on which he stood into the court 
below, accompanied all the way as he descended by an 
illustrious host of angels, anxiously guarding his person 
from all danger, and plainly manifesting, by their solici- 
tude to protect and to preserve him, that they had a most 
invaluable treasure committed, to their care, and that he 
was in truth the beloved Son of God, the peculiar fa- 
vourite of Heaven. 

To a vain-glorious mind nothing could have been more 
gratifying, more flattering, than such a proposal as this : 
more especially as so magnificent a spectacle in the sight 
of all the Jews would probably have induced them to 
receive him as their Messiah, whom it is well known 
they expected to descend visibly from Heaven in some 
such triumphant manner as this. 

But on the humble mind of Jesus all this had no effect. 
To him, who never affected parade or show, who never 

* Heb. iv, 15. t Matt, iv, 5, 6. 



MATTHEW IV. 49 

courted admiration or applause, who kept himself as quiet 
and as retired as the nature of his mission would allow, 
and frequently withdrew, from the multitudes that flocked 
around him, to deserts and to mountains; to him this 
temptation carried no force: his answer was, "Thou 
shalt not tempt the Lord thy God ;" thou shalt not rush 
into unnecessary danger, in order to tempt God, in order 
to try whether he will interpose to save thee in a mira- 
culous manner ; much less ought this to be done, as now 
proposed, for the purposes of vanity and ostentation. 

The next temptation is thus described by St. Matthew : 
"Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding 
high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of 
the world, and the glory of them ; and saith unto him, 
All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down 
and worship me*." 

It has been thought an insuperable difficulty to con- 
ceive how Satan could, from any mountain, however 
elevated, show to our Saviour all the kingdoms of the 
earth and the glory of them. And even they, who de- 
fend the literal sense of the transaction in general, yet 
have recourse to a visionary representation in this parti- 
cular instance. But there seems to me no necessity for 
calling in the help of a vision even here. The evangelist 
describes the mountain on which Christ was placed as 
" an exceeding high one;" and the traveller, to whom I 
before referred t, describes it in the same terms. From 
thence, of course, there must have been a very extensive 
view ; and accordingly another writer, the Abbe Mariti, 
in his travels through Cyprus, &c, speaking of this 
mountain, says, " Here we enjoyed the most beautiful 
prospect imaginable. This part of the mountain over- 
looks the mountains of Arabia, the country of Gilead, 
the country of the Ammonites, the plains of Moab, the 
plain of Jericho, the river Jordan, and the whole extent 
of the Dead Sea." These various domains the tempter 
might show to our Lord distinctly, and might also at the 
same time point out (for so the original word Seixw/iu 
sometimes signifies) and direct our Lord's eye towards 
several other regions that lay beyond them, which might 
comprehend all the principal kingdoms of the eastern 
world. And he might then properly enough say, " AH 
these kingdoms, which you now see, or towards which I 

* Matt, iv, 8, 9. t Maundrell. 



60 LECTURE IV. 

now point, will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and 
worship me." This explanation appears to me an easy 
and a natural one. But if others think differently, it is 
sufficient to say, that this particular incident is not more 
extraordinary than almost every other part of this very 
singular transaction ; throughout the whole of which, the 
devil appears to have been permitted to exercise a power 
far beyond what naturally belonged to him. 

But whatever we may decide on this point, the nature 
and magnitude of the temptation are evident. It is no 
less than an offer of kingdoms, with all their glory ; all 
the honours, power, rank, wealth, grandeur, and mag- 
nificence, that this world has to give. But all these put 
together could not for one moment shake the firm mind 
of our Divine Master, or seduce him from the duty he 
owed to God. He rejected with abhorrence the impious 
proposition made to him, and answered with a proper 
indignation, in the words of Scripture, " Get thee hence, 
Satan : for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy 
God, and him only shalt thou serve *." Upon this we 
are told that the devil left him, and that angels came 
and ministered unto him. 

Thus ended this memorable scene of Christ's tempta- 
tion in the wilderness. The reasons of it respecting our 
Lord have been already explained ; the instructions it 
furnishes to ourselves are principally these : — 

1. It teaches us, that even the best of men may some- 
times be permitted to fall into great temptations, for we 
see that our blessed Lord himself was exposed to the 
severest. They are not therefore to be considered as 
marks of God's displeasure or desertion of us, but only 
as trials of our virtue ; as means of proving (as Moses 
tells the Israelites) what is in our hearts, whether we 
will keep God's commandments or not ; as opportunities 
graciously afforded us to demonstrate our sincerity, our 
fortitude, our integrity, our unshaken allegiance and fide- 
lity to the great Ruler of the world. 

2. Whenever we are thus brought into temptation, we 
have every reason to hope for the Divine assistance to 
extricate us from danger. We have the example of our 
blessed Lord to encourage us. We see the great Captain 
of our salvation assaulted by all the art and all the power 
of Satan, and yet rising superior to all his efforts. We 

* Matt, iv, 10, 1 1 . t Deut. viii, 2. 



MATTHEW IV. 51 

see him going before us in the paths of virtue and of 
glory, and calling upon us to follow him. Though he 
was led by the Spirit of God himself into the wilderness 
in order to be tempted, yet the same divine Spirit ac- 
companied and supported him throughout the whole of 
his bitter conflict, and enabled him to triumph over his 
infernal adversary. To the same heavenly Spirit we 
also may look for deliverance. If we implore God in 
fervent prayer to send him to us, he will assuredly grant 
our petition. He will not suffer us to be tempted above 
what we are able, but will with the temptation also make 
a way to escape (when we ourselves cannot find one), 
that we may be able to bear it*. 

3. We may learn from the conduct of our Lord under 
this great trial, that when temptations assail us, we are 
not to parley or to reason with them, to hesitate and de- 
liberate whether we shall give way to them or not, but 
must at once repel them with firmness and with vigour, 
and oppose to the dictates of our passions the plain and 
positive commands of God in his holy word. We must 
say resolutely to the tempter as our Lord did, " Get thee 
hence, Satant;" and he will instantly flee from us, as 
he did from him, 

4. It is a most solid consolation to us, under such con- 
tests as these, that if we honestly exert our utmost 
efforts to vanquish the enemies of our salvation, most 
humbly and devoutly soliciting at the same time the 
influences of divine grace to aid our weak endeavours, 
the unavoidable errors and imperfections of our nature 
will not be ascribed to us, nor will God be extreme to 
mark every thing that is done amiss ; for we shall not 
be judged by one who has no feeling of our infirmities, 
but by one who knows and who pities them, who was 
himself in all things tempted like as we are, yet without 
sin:}:, and who will make, therefore, all due allowances 
for our involuntary failings, though none for our wilful 
transgressions. 

5. And lastly, in the various allurements presented to 
our Lord, we see but too faithful a picture of those we 
are to expect ourselves in our progress through life. Our 
Lord's temptations were, as we have seen, sensual gra- 
tifications, incitements to vanity and ostentation, and the 

* LCor. x, 13. t Matt, iv, 10. % Heb. iv, 15. 



52 LECTURE IV. 

charms of wealth, power, rank, and splendour. All 
these will, in the different stages of our existence, succes- 
sively rise up to seduce us, to oppose our progres to hea- 
ven, and bring us into captivity to sin and misery. 
Pleasure, interest, business, honour, glory, fame, all the 
follies and all the corruptions of the world, will each in 
their turn assault our feeble nature ; and through these 
we must manfully fight our way to the great end we 
have in view. , But the difficulty and the pain of this, 
contest will be considerably lessened by a resolute and 
vigorous exertion of our powers and our resources at 
our first setting out in life. It was immediately after 
his baptism, and at the beginning of his ministry, that 
our Lord was exposed to all the power and all the ar- 
tifices of the devil, and completely triumphing over both, 
effectually secured himself from all future attempts of 
that implacable enemy. In the same manner it is on 
our first setting out in life, that we are to look for the 
most violent assaults from our passions within, and from 
the world and the prince of it without. And if we stre- 
nuously resist those enemies of our salvation that present 
themselves to us at that most critical and dangerous, 
period, all the rest that follow in our maturer age will be 
an easy conquest. On him, who in the beginning of life 
has preserved himself unspotted from the world, all its 
consequent attractions and allurements, and its mag- 
nificence, wealth, and splendour, will make little or no 
impression. A mind, that has been long habituated to 
discipline and self-government amidst far more powerful 
temptations, will have nothing to apprehend from such 
assailants as these. But, after all, our great security is 
assistance from above, which will never be denied to 
those Who fervently apply for it. And with the power 
of divine grace to support us, with the example of our 
Lord in the wilderness to animate us, and an eternity of 
happiness to reward us, what is there that can shake our 
constancy or corrupt our fidelity 1 

Set yourselves, then, without delay to acquire an early 
habit of strict self-government, and an early intercourse 
with your heavenly protector and comforter. Let it be 
your first care to establish the sovereignty of reason and 
the empire of grace over your soul, and you will soon 
find it no difficulty to repel the most powerful tempta- 
tions. " Watch ye, stand fast in the faith ; quit your- 



MATTHEW IV. 53 

selves like men; be strong*," be resolute, be patient; 
look frequently up to the prize that is set before you, 
lest you be weary and faint in your minds. Consider, 
that every pleasure you sacrifice to your duty here, will 
be placed to your credit and increase your happiness 
hereafter. The conflict with your passions will grow less 
irksome every day. A few years (with some of you 
perhaps a very few) will put an entire end to it ; and 
you will then, to your unspeakable comfort, be enabled 
to cry out with St. Paul, " I have fought a good fight, I 
have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Hence- 
forth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, 
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at 
that day f." 

* 1 Cor. xvi, 13. t 2 Tim. iv, 7, 8. 



F3 



LECTURE V, 



MATTHEW IV —Latter Part. 

The former part of the fourth chapter of St. Matthew., 
which contains the history of our Saviour's temptation, 
having been explained to you in the preceding Lecture, 
I shall now proceed to the latter part of the chapter, in 
which an account is given of the first opening of our 
blessed Lord's ministry, by his preaching, by his choos- 
ing a few companions to attend him, and by his be- 
ginning to work miracles; all which things are stated 
very briefly, without any attempt to expatiate on the 
importance and magnitude of the subject, which was 
nevertheless the noblest and most interesting that is to 
be found in history ; an enterprize the most stupendous 
and astonishing that ever before entered into the mind 
of man, nothing less than the conversion of a whole 
world from wickedness and idolatry to virtue and true 
religion. 

On this vast undertaking our Lord now entered ; and 
we are informed by St. Matthew, in the seventeenth verse 
of this chapter, in what manner he first announced himself 
and his religion to the world. His first address to the 
people was similar to that of the Baptist, Repent ye, for 
the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The very first qualifi- 
cation he required, of those who aspired to be his dis- 
ciples, was repentance, a sincere contrition for all past 
offences, and a resolution to renounce in future every 
species of sin ; for sin, he well knew, would be the grand 
obstacle to the reception of his Gospel. 

What a noble idea does this present to us of the dig- 
nity and sanctity of our divine religion ! It cannot even 
be approached by the unhallowed and the profane. Before 
they can be admitted even into the outward courts of its 



MATTHEW IV. 55 

sanctuary, they must leave their corrupt appetite and 
their sinful practices behind them. " Put off thy shoes 
from off thy feet/' said God to Moses from the burning 
bush, " for the place whereon thou standest is holy 
ground*." Put off all thy vicious habits, says Christ to 
every one that aspires to be his disciple, for the religion 
thou art to embrace is a holy religion, and the God thou 
art to serve is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and can- 
not even look upon iniquity. In some of the ancient 
sects of philosophy, before any one could be admitted 
into their schools, or initiated in their mysteries, he was 
obliged to undergo a certain course of preparation, a 
certain term of trial and probation, which, however, con- 
sisted of little more than a few superstitious ceremonies, 
or some acts of external discipline and purification. 
But the preparation for receiving the Christian religion 
is the preparation of the heart. The discipline required 
for a participation of its privileges is the mortification 
of sin, the sacrifice of every guilty propensity and desire. 

This sacrifice, however, the great Founder of our re- 
ligion did not require for nothing. He promised his fol- 
lowers a recompence infinitely beyond the indulgences 
they were to renounce ; he promised them a place in his 
kingdom, a kingdom of which he was the sovereign ; a 
kingdom of righteousness here, and of glory hereafter. 
" Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at handf." 

He then proceeds to select and associate to himself a 
certain number of persons, who were to be his assistants 
and coadjutors in the establishment and the adminis- 
tration of his heavenly kingdom. 

And here it was natural to expect, that in making his 
choice he should look to men of influence, authority, 
and weight ; that being himself destitute of all the ad- 
vantages of rank, power, wealth, and learning, he should 
endeavour to compensate for those defects in his own 
person by the contrary qualities of his associates, by 
connecting himself with some of the most powerful, 
most opulent, most learned, and most eloquent men of 
his time. 

And this most undoubtedly would have been his mode 
of proceeding, had his object been to establish bis re- 
ligion by mere human means, by influence or by force, 
by the charms of eloquence, by the powers of reason, by 

* Exod. iii,5. f Matt, iv, 17. 



56 LECTURE V. 

the example, by the authority, by the fashion of the 
great. But these were not the instruments which Christ 
meant to make use of. He meant to show, that he was 
above them all ; that he had far other resources, far dif- 
ferent auxiliaries, to call in to his support, in comparison 
of which all the wealth, and magnificence, and power, 
and wisdom of the world, were trivial and contemptible 
things. We find, therefore, that not the wise, not the 
mighty, not the noble, were called* to co-operate with 
him ; but men of the meanest birth, of the lowest occu- 
pations, of the humblest talents, and most uncultivated 
minds. "As he was walking by the sea of Galilee," 
St. Matthew tells us, " he saw two brethren, Simon called 
Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the 
sea, for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, 
Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men; and 
they straightway left their nets (that is, in fact, all their 
subsistence, all the little property they had in the world), 
and followed him. And going from thence, he saw other 
two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his 
brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending 
their nets ; and he called them, and they immediately 
left the ship and their father, and followed himf." 
These were the men whom he selected for his com- 
panions and assistants. These fishermen of Galilee were 
to be, under him, the instruments of overthrowing the 
stupendous and magnificent system of paganism and 
idolatry throughout the world, and producing the great- 
est change, the most general and most important re- 
volution, in principles, in morals, and in religion, that 
ever took place on this globe. For this astonishing work, 
these simple, illiterate, humble men, were singled out 
by our Lord. He chose, as the apostle expresses it, 
" the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, 
and the weak things of the world to confound the things 
which are mighty | ; that his religion might not be esta- 
blished by the enticing words of man's wisdom, but by 
demonstration of the Spirit and of power ; that our faith 
should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power 
of God§." 

Such were the associates chosen by him who was the 
delegate of heaven, and whose help was from above. 

* 1 Cor.i, 26. f Matt.iv, 18—22. 

t 1 Cor.i, 27. I 1 Cor.ii,4, 6. 



MATTHEW IV. 57 

We may expect, therefore, that an impostor, who meant 
to rely on human means for success, would take a di- 
rectly contrary course. And this we find in fact to be 
the case. Who were the companions and assistants 
selected by the grand impostor Mahomet'! They were 
men of the most weight and authority, and rank and in- 
fluence, among his countrymen. The reason is obvious ; 
he wanted such supports ; Christ did not ; and hence the 
marked difference of their conduct in this instance. It 
is the natural difference between truth and imposture. 
That the power of God and not of man was the founda- 
tion, on which our Lord meant to erect his new system, 
very soon appeared ; for the next thing we hear of him 
is, that he "went about all Galilee teaching in their 
synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, 
and healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of 
disease among the people*." 

Here then began that demonstration of the Spirit 
and of power, which was to be the grand basis of his 
new kingdom, the great evidence of his heavenly mis- 
sion. It is, indeed, probable, that the wisdom and the 
authority with which he spake, and the weight and im- 
portance of the doctrines he taught, would of themselves 
make a deep impression on the minds of his hearers, and 
produce him some followers. But had he stopt here, had 
he given his new disciples nothing but words, their zeal 
and attachment to him would soon have abated. Tor it 
was natural for these converts to say to him, " You have 
called upon us to repent and to reform ; you have com- 
manded us to renounce our vices, to relinquish our fa- 
vourite pleasures and pursuits, to give up the world and 
its enjoyments, and to take up our cross and follow you; 
and in return for this you promise us distinguished hap- 
piness and honour in your spiritual kingdom. You speak, 
it is true, most forcibly to our consciences and to our 
hearts, and we feel strongly disposed to obey your in- 
junctions, and to credit your promises; but still the 
sacrifice we are required to make is a great one, and the 
conflict we have to go through is a bitter one. We find 
it a most painful struggle to subdue confirmed habits, 
and to part at once with all our accustomed pleasures 
and indulgences. Before, then, we can entirely relinquish 
these, and make a complete change in the temper of our 

* Matt, iv, 23. 



58 LECTURE V. 

souls, and the conduct of our lives, we must have some 
convincing proof, that you have a right to require this 
compliance at our hands ; that what you enjoin us is in 
reality the command of God himself; that you are ac- 
tually sent from heaven, and commissioned by him to 
teach us his will, and to instruct us in our duty ; that 
the kingdom you hold out to us in another world is some- 
thing more than mere imagination: that you are, in short, 
what you pretend to be, the Son of God : and that you 
are able to make good the punishment you denounce 
against sin, and the rewards you promise to virtue." 

Our Lord well knew that this sort of reasoning must 
occur to every man's mind. He knew that it was highly 
proper and indispensably necessary to give some evi- 
dence of his divine commission, to do something which 
should satisfy the world that he was the Son of God, and 
the delegate of heaven. And how could he do this so 
effectually as by performing works, which it utterly ex- 
ceeded all the strength and ability of man to accomplish, 
and which nothing less than the hand of God himself 
could possibly bring to pass ? In other words, the proofs 
he gave of his mission were those astonishing miracles 
which are recorded in the Gospel, and which are here 
for the first time mentioned by St. Matthew, in the 
twenty-third verse of this chapter : " And Jesus went 
about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and 
preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing all 
manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the 
people." 

This, then, is the primary, the fundamental evidence of 
his divine authority, which our Lord was pleased to give 
to his followers. His first application, as we have seen, 
was (like that of his precursor John the Baptist) to their 
hearts, " repent ye," lay aside your vices and your pre- 
judices. Till this was done, till these grand obstacles to 
the admission of truth were removed, he well knew, that 
all he could say and all he could do would have no 
effect ; they would not be moved either by his exhorta- 
tions or his miracles ; " they would not be persuaded 
though one rose from the dead*." And in fact we find, 
that several of the Pharisees, men abandoned to vice and 
wickedness, did actually resist the miracles of Christ, and 
the resurrection of a man from the grave ; they ascribed 

* Luke xvi, 31 . 



MATTHEW IV. 59 

his casting out devils to Beelzebub ; they were not con- 
vinced by the cure of the blind man, and the raising of 
Lazarus from the dead, though they saw them both be- 
fore their eyes, one restored to sight, the other to life. 
This plainly proves how far the power of sin and of pre- 
judice will go in closing up all the avenues of the mind 
against conviction ; and how wisely our Saviour acted in 
calling upon his hearers to repent, before he offered any 
evidence to their understandings. But the way being 
thus cleared, the evidence was then produced, and the 
effect it had was such as might be expected ; for St. Mat- 
thew tells us, that his fame went throughout all Syria ; 
and that there followed him great multitudes of people 
from Galilee and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, 
and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan* ; that is, from 
every quarter of his own country and the adjoining na- 
tions. 

And indeed it can be no wonder, that such multitudes 
were convinced and converted by what they saw. The 
wonder would ha/ve been if they had not. To those, who 
were themselves eye-witnesses of his miracles, they must 
have been (except in a few instances of inveterate de- 
pravity of heart) irresistible proofs of his divine mission. 
When they saw him give eyes to the blind, feet to the 
lame, health to the sick, and even life to the dead, be- 
speaking only a few words ; what other conclusion could 
they possibly draw than that which the centurion did, 
" Truly this was the Son of Godt 1 " To us, indeed, who 
have not seen these mighty works, and who live at the 
distance of eighteen hundred years from the time when 
they were wrought, the force of this evidence is un- 
doubtedly less than it was to an eye-witness. But if the 
reality of these miracles is proved to us by sufficient tes- 
timony, by testimony such as no ingenuous and unpre- 
judiced mind can withstand, they ought still to produce 
in us the firmest belief of the divine power of him who 
wrought them^. 

It must be admitted, at the same time, that these mi- 
racles, being facts of a very uncommon and very extra- 
ordinary nature, such as have never happened in our 
own times, and but very seldom even in former times, 
they require a much stronger degree of testimony to sup- 

* Matt, iv, 24, 25. t Matt, xxvii, 54. 

t Mr. Hume's abstruse and sophistical argument against miracles 
has been completely refuted by Drs. Adams, Campbell, and Paley. 



60 LECTURE V. 

port them than common historical facts. And this degree 
of testimony they actually have. They are supported 
by a body of evidence fully adequate to the case ; fully 
competent to outweigh all the disadvantages arising from 
the great distance and the astonishing nature of the 
events in question. 

1. In the first place, these miracles are recorded in four 
different histories, written very near the time of their 
being performed, by four different men, Matthew, Mark, 
Luke, and John ; two of whom saw these miracles with 
their own eyes ; the other two had their account from 
them who did the same ; and affirm, that " they had a 
perfect knowledge of every thing they relate*." 

They were plain artless men, without the least appear- 
ance of enthusiasm or credulity about them, and rather 
slow than forward to believe any thing extraordinary and 
out of the common course of nature. They were per- 
fectly competent to judge of plain matters of fact, of 
things which passed before their eyes, and could certainly 
tell, without the least possibility of being mistaken, 
whether a person whom they knew to be blind was ac- 
tually restored to sight, and a person whom they knew to 
be dead was raised to life again, by a few words spoken 
by their master. They were men, who, from the simpli- 
city of their manners, were not at all likely to invent and 
publish falsehoods of so extraordinary a nature ; much 
less falsehoods by which they could gain nothing, and 
did in fact lose every thing. There is not, therefore, 
from the peculiar character of these persons, the least 
ground for disbelieving the reality of any thing they re- 
late. Nor is there any reason to doubt whether the writ- 
ings we now have under their names are those which they 
actually wrote. They have been received as such ever 
since they were published ; nor has any one argument 
been yet produced against their authenticity, which has 
not been repeatedly and effectually confuted. 

2. It is a very strong circumstance in favour of our Sa- 
viour's miracles, that they were related by contemporary 
historians, by those who were eye-witnesses of them, and 
were afterwards acknowledged to be true by those who 
lived nearest to the times in which they were wrought ; 
and, what is still more to the point, by many who were 
hostile to the Christian religion. Even the emperor 

* Luke i, 3. 



MATTHEW IV. 61 

Julian himself, that most bitter adversary of Christianity, 
who had openly apostatized from it, who professed the 
most implacable hatred to it, who employed all his in- 
genuity, all his acuteness and learning, which were con- 
siderable, in combating the truth of it, in displaying in 
the strongest colours every objection he could raise up 
against it ; even he did not deny the reality of our Lord's 
miracles*. He admitted that Jesus wrought them, but 
contended that he wrought them by the power of magic. 

3. Unless we admit, that the founder of our religion 
did actually work the miracles ascribed to him by his 
historians, it is utterly impossible to account for the suc- 
cess and establishment of his religion. It could not, in 
short, to all appearance, have been established by any 
other means. 

Consider only for a moment what the apparent condi- 
tion of our Lord was, when he first announced his mis- 
sion among the Jews, what his pretensions and what his 
doctrines were, and then judge what kind of a reception 
-he must have met with among the Jews had his preach- 
ing been accompanied by no miracles. A young man of 
-no education, born in an obscure village, of obscure pa- 
rents, without any o'f those very brilliant talents or ex- 
terior accomplishments, which usually captivate the 
'hearts of men ; without having previously written or 
•done any thing that should excite the expectation, or at- 
tract the attention and admiration of the world, offers 
•himself at once to the Jewish nation, not merely as a 
preacher of morality, but as a teacher sent from heaven ; 
nay, what is more, as the Son of God himself, and as 
that great deliverer, the Messiah, who had been so long 
predicted by the prophets, and was then so anxiously 
^expected and so eagerly looked for by the whole Jewish 
people. He called upon this people to renounce at once 
a great part of the religion of their forefathers, and to 
adopt that which he proposed to them ; to relinquish all 
their fond ideas of a splendid, a victorious, a triumphant 
Messiah, and to accept in his room a despised, a perse- 

* Julian apud Cyrillum, lib. vi, viii, x. Celsus also acknow- 
ledged the truth of the Gospel miracles in general, but ascribed 
•them to the assistance of demons. " The Christians," says he, 
'• seem to prevail, tiau/iovan Tmooy oiuotji xau KaraxXuffBtrt, 
by virtue of the names and the invocations of certain demons." — 
Orig. contra Celsum, ed. Cantab., lib. i, p. 7. 

G 



62 LECTURE V. 

cuted, and a crucified master : he required them to give 
up all their former prejudices, superstitions, and traditions, 
all their favourite rites and ceremonies, and, what was 
perhaps still dearer to them, their favourite vices and 
propensities, their hypocrisy, their rapaciousness, their 
voluptuousness. Instead of exterior forms, he prescribed 
sanctity of manners ; instead of washing their hands, 
and making clean their platters, he commanded them to 
purify their hearts and reform their lives. Instead of 
indulging in ease and luxury, he called upon them to 
take up their cross and follow him through sorrows and 
sufferings ; to pluck out a right eye and to cut off a right 
arm ; to leave father, mother, brethren, and sisters, for 
his name's sake and the Gospel. 

What now shall we say to doctrines such as these, de- 
livered by such a person as our Lord appeared to be 1 
Is it probable, is it possible, that the reputed son of a 
poor mechanic could, by the mere force of argument or 
persuasion, induce vast numbers of his countrymen to 
embrace opinions and practices so directly opposite to 
every propensity of their hearts, to every sentiment they 
had imbibed, every principle they had acted upon, from 
their earliest years 1 Yet the fact is, that he did prevail 
on multitudes to do so ; and therefore he must have had 
means of conviction superior to all human eloqence or 
reasoning ; that is, he must have convinced his hearers, 
by the miracles he wrought, that all power in heaven 
and on earth was given to him, and that every precept 
he delivered, and every doctrine he taught, was the voice 
of God himself. Without this, it is utterly impossible to 
give any rational account of his success. 

In order to set this argument in a still stronger point 
of view, let us consider what the effect actually was in 
a case where a new religion was proposed without any 
support from miracles. That same impostor, Mahomet, 
to whom I before alluded, began his mission with every 
advantage that could arise from personal figure, from in- 
sinuating manners, from a commanding eloquence, from 
an ardent enterprising spirit, from considerable wealth, 
and from powerful connections. Yet with all these ad- 
vantages, and with every artifice and every dexterous 
contrivance to recommend his new religion to his coun- 
trymen, in a space of three years he made only about six 
converts, and those principally of his own family, rela- 
tions, and most intimate friends. And his progress was 



MATTHEW IV. 63 

but very slow for nine years after this, till he began to 
make use of force ; and then his victorious arms, not his 
arguments, carried his religion triumphantly over almost 
all the eastern world. 

It appears, therefore, that without the assistance either 
of miracles or of the sword, no religion can be propa- 
gated with such rapidity, and to such an extent, as the 
Christian was, both during our Saviour's lifetime and 
after his death. For there is, I believe, no instance in 
the history of mankind of such an effect being produced, 
without either the one or the other. Now of force we 
know that Jesus never did make use ; the unavoidable 
consequence is, that the miracles ascribed to him were 
actually wrought by him. 

4. These miracles being wrought, not in the midst of 
friends, who were disposed to favour them, but of most 
bitter and determined enemies, whose passions and 
whose prejudices were all up in arms, all vigorous and 
active against them and their author ; we may rest as- 
sured, that no false pretence to a supernatural power, 
no frauds, no collusions, no impositions, would be suf- 
fered to pass undetected and unexposed : that every sin- 
gle miracle would be most critically and most rigorously 
sifted and inquired into, and no art left unemployed to 
destroy their credit and counteract their effect. And 
this in fact we find to be the case. Look into the ninth 
chapter of St. John, and you will see with what extreme 
care and diligence, with what anxiety and solicitude, the 
Pharisees examined and re-examined the blind man that 
was restored to sight by our Saviour, and what pains 
they took to persuade him, and to make him say, that he 
was not restored to sight by Jesus. 

/'They brought," says St. John, "to the Pharisees, 
him that aforetime was blind ; and the Pharisees asked 
him how he had received his sight. And he said unto 
them, Jesus put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed and 
did see. A plain, and simple, and honest relation of the 
fact. But the Jews, not content with this, called for 
his parents, and asked them, saying, Is this your son, 
who ye say was born blind 1 How then doth he now 
see? His parents, afraid of bringing themselves into 
danger, very discreetly answered, We know that this is 
our son, and that he was born blind ; but by what means 
he now seeth, we know not, or who hath opened his 
eyes we know not : he is of age, ask him, he shall speak 



64 LECTURE V. 

for himself. They then called the man again, and said 
to him, Give God the praise ; we know that this man 
(meaning Jesus) is a sinner. The man's answer is ad- 
mirable : Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not > 
but this I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see. 
Since the world began was it not known that any mara 
opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man 
were not of God, he could do nothing. And they an- 
swered him and said, thou wast altogether born in sin, 
and dost thou teach us ? And they cast him out." A 
very effectual way, it must be confessed, of confuting a 
miracle ! 

The whole of this narrative (from which I have only 
selected a few of the most striking passages) is highly 
curious and instructive, and would furnish ample matter 
for a variety of very important remarks. But the only 
use I mean to make of it at present is to observe, that it 
proves, in the clearest manner, how very much awake 
and alive the Jews were to every part of our Saviour's 
conduct. It shows, that his miracles were presented, not 
to persons prepossessed and prejudiced in his favour, not 
to inattentive, or negligent, or credulous spectators, but 
to acute, and inquisitive, and hostile observers ; to men 
disposed and able to detect imposture wherever it could 
be found. And it is utterly impossible, that the miracles 
of Christ could have passed the fiery ordeal of so much 
shrewdness, and sagacity, and authority, and malignity, 
united, if they had not been carried through it by the 
irresistible force of truth, and of that divine power, 
which nothing could resist. 

5. The miracles of our Lord were not mere transient 
acts, beheld at the moment with astonishment, but for- 
got as soon as over, and productive of no important con- 
sequences. They gave birth to a new religion, to a new 
mode of worship, to several new and singular institu- 
tions, such as the rite of Baptism, the sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper, the appropriation of the first day of the 
week to sacred purposes, the establishment of a distinct 
order of men for the celebration of divine offices, and 
other things of the same nature. Now this religion and 
these institutions subsist to this day. And as the books 
of the New Testament affirm, that this religion and 
these institutions were first established, and afterward 
made their way by the power of miracles, they are 
standing testimonies to the truth and the reality of 



MATTHEW IV. 65 

those miracles, without which they could never have 
taken such firm and deep root at the first, and con- 
tinued unshaken through so many ages to the present 
time. The magnitude and permanency of the super- 
structure prove that it could not have had a less solid, a 
less substantial foundation. 

6. And, lastly, when we consider the great sacrifices 
made by the first converts to Christianity, particularly 
by the apostles and primitive teachers of it ; how many 
deep-rooted prejudices and favourite opinions they gave 
up to it ; what a total change it produced in their dispo- 
sition, their temper, their manners, their principles, their 
habits, and the whole complexion of their lives ; what 
infinite pains they took to propagate it ; how cheerfully 
they relinquished for this purpose all the ease, the com- 
fort, the conveniences, the pleasures, and the advan- 
tages of life; and instead of them embraced labours, 
hardships, sufferings, persecutions, torments, and death 
itself ; we cannot rationally suppose, that such patience, 
resignation, fortitude, magnanimity, and perseverance, 
could possibly be produced by any less powerful cause 
than those evidences of divine power exhibited in the 
miracles of Christ ; which demonstrably proved, that he 
and his religion had a divine original, and that therefore 
the sufferings they underwent for his sake in the present 
life would be amply repaid by the glorious rewards re- 
served for them hereafter. 

When, therefore, we put together all these considera- 
tions, they can leave no doubt on any unprejudiced 
mind, that the account given in this chapter of the first 
commencement of our Saviour's ministry, and the rea- 
sons of his astonishing success, are perfectly accurate 
and true : namely, " that he went about all Galilee, 
teaching in the synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of 
the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness, and all 
manner of disease among the people." And our con- 
clusion from this must necessarily be the same with that 
of the great Jewish ruler, who, with a laudable anxiety 
to know the truth, came to Jesus by night, and addressed 
him in these words : " Rabbi, we know that thou art a 
teacher come from God : for no man can do these mira- 
cles, that thou doest, except God he with him*," 

* John ill, 2. 

G 3 



LECTURE VI. 



MATTHEW V. 

Our blessed Lord, having by his miracles established: 
his divine authority, and acquired of course a right to 
the attention of his hearers, and a powerful influence 
over their minds, proceeds in the next place to explain 
to them in some degree the nature of his religion, the 
duties it enjoins, and the dispositions it requires. This 
he does in what is commonly called his Sermon on the 
Mount ; which is a discourse of considerable length, be- 
ing extended through this and the two following chapters ; . 
and we may venture to say it contains a greater variety 
of new, important, and excellent moral precepts, than is 
anywhere to be found in the same compass. At the same 
time, it does not pretend to give a regular, complete, and 
perfect system of ethics, or to lay down rules for the re- 
gulation of our conduct in every possible instance that 
can arise. This would have been an endless task, and 
would have multiplied precepts to a degree that would, 
in a great measure, have defeated their utility and de- 
stroyed their effect*. Our Lord took the wiser and more 
impressive method of tracing out to us only the great 
outlines of our duty, of giving us general principles and 
comprehensive rules, which we may ourselves apply to 
particular cases, and the various situations in which we 
may be placed. 

He begins with describing those dispositions and vir- 
tues which mark the Christian ch iracter, in which the 
Gospel peculiarly delights, but which the world despises 
and rejects. 

" Blessed," says he, " are the poor in spirit, for theirs 
is the kingdom of God. 

* Vide John xxi, 25. 



MATTHEW V. 67 

" Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be com- 
forted. 

" Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the 
earth. 

" Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after 
righteousness, for they shall be filled. 

" Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 

" Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 

" Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called 
the children of God. 

" Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteous- 
ness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

" Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and per- 
secute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you 
falsely for my sake ; rejoice and be exceeding glad, for 
great is your reward in heaven*." 

It is evident, that our Lord here meant, at the very 
outset of his public instructions, to mark at once, in the 
strongest and most decided terms, the peculiar temper, 
spirit, and character of his religion ; and to show to his 
disciples how completely opposite they were to all those 
splendid and popular qualities, which were the great ob- 
jects of admiration and applause to the heathen world ; 
and are still too much so, even to the Christian world. 
" There are," as a very able advocate for Christianity 
well observes*, " two opposite characters, under which 
mankind may generally be classed. The one possesses 
vigour, firmness, resolution, is daring and active, quick 
in its sensibilities, jealous of its fame, eager in its at- 
tachments, inflexible in its purposes, violent in its re- 
sentments. 

" The other, meek, yielding, complying, forgiving : 
not prompt to act, but willing to suffer ; silent and gen- 
tle under rudeness and insult ; suing for reconciliation 
where others would demand satisfaction ; giving way to 
the pushes of impudence ; conceding and indulgent to 
the prejudices, the wrongheadedness, the intractability 
of those with whom he has to deal." 

The former of these characters is and ever has been 
the favourite of the world ; and though it is too stern to 
conciliate affection, yet it has an appearance of dignity 
in it which too commonly commands respect. 

The latter is, as our Lord describes it, humble, meek, 

* Matt, v, 3 — 12. t Dr. Paley, vol. ii, p. 30, 



68 LECTURE VI. 

lowly, devout, merciful, pure, peaceable, patient, and 
unresisting. The world calls it mean-spirited, tame, 
and abject : yet, notwithstanding all this, with the Divine 
Author of our religion this is the favourite character ; 
this is the constant topic of his commendation ; this is 
the subject that runs through all the beatitudes. To this 
he assigns, under all its various forms, peculiar blessings. 
To those who possess it he promises, that they shall in- 
herit the earth ; that they shall obtain mercy ; that theirs 
shall be the kingdom of heaven ; that they shall see God, 
and shall be called the children of God. 

The recommendation of this character recurs fre- 
quently in different shapes throughout the whole of the 
sermon on the mount, and a great part of that discourse 
is nothing more than a comment on the text of the bea- 
titudes. On these, and a few other passages which 
have any thing particularly novel and important in 
them, I shall offer some observations. 

But, before I quit this noble and consolatory exordium 
of our Lord's discourse, I shall request your attention 
to one particular part of it, which seems to require a 
little explanation. 

The part I allude to is this : '* Blessed are the meek, 
for they shall inherit the earth." 

The blessing, here promised to the meek, seems at first 
sight somewhat singular, and not very appropriate to the 
virtue recommended. 

That the meek, of all others, should be destined to in- 
herit the earth, is what one should not naturally have 
expected. If we may judge from what passes in the 
world, it is those of a quite opposite character, the bold, 
the forward, the active, the enterprising, the rapacious, 
the ambitious, that are best calculated to secure to them- 
selves that inheritance. And, undoubtedly, if by inhe- 
riting the earth is meant acquiring the wealth, the gran- 
deur, the power, the property of the earth, these are the 
persons who generally seize on a> large proportion of 
those good things, and leave the meek and the gentle 
far behind them in this unequal contest for such advan- 
tages. But it was far other things than these our Lord 
had in view. By inheriting the earth he meant, inherit- 
ing those things, which are, without question, the 
greatest blessings upon earth, calmness and composure 
of spirit, tranquillity, cheerfulness, peace and comfort 
of mind. Now these, I apprehend, are the peculiar 



MATTHEW V. 69 

portion and recompense of the meek. Unassuming, 
gentle, and humble in their deportment, they give no 
oftence, they create no enemies, they provoke no hosti- 
lities, and thus escape all that large proportion of human 
misery, which arises from dissensions and disputes. _ If 
differences do unexpectedly start up, by patience, mild- 
ness, and prudence, they disarm their adversaries, they 
soften resentment, they court reconciliation, and seldom 
fail of restoring harmony and peace. Having a very 
humble opinion of themselves, they see others succeed 
without uneasiness, without envy . Having no ambition, 
no spirit of competition, they feel no pain from disap- 
pointment, no mortification from defeat. By bending 
under the storms that assail them, they greatly mitigate 
their violence, and see them pass over their heads almost 
without feeling their force. Content and satisfied with 
their lot, they pass quietly and silently through the 
crowds that surround them, and encounter much fewer 
difficulties and calamities in their progress through life, 
than more active and enterprising men. This even te- 
nour of life may indeed be called, by men of the world, 
fiat, dull, and insipid. But the meek are excluded from 
no rational pleasure, no legitimate delight ; and, as 
they are more exempt from anxiety and pain than other 
men, their sum total of happiness is greater, and they 
may, in the best sense of the word, be fairly said to 
" inherit the earth." 

I shall now proceed to notice such other passages of 
this admirable discourse as appear to me to deserve pe- 
culiar attention and consideration. 

The first of these is that which begins with the twenty- 
first verse : " Ye have heard that it was said by them of 
old time, Thou shalt not kill ; and whosoever shall kill 
shall be in danger of the judgment : but I say unto you, 
that whosoever is angry with his brother, without a 
cause, shall be in danger of the judgment ; and whoso- 
ever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger 
of the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall 
be in danger of hell fire." And again in the same man- 
ner at the twenty-seventh verse ; "Ye have heard that 
it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit 
adultery : but I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on 
a woman, to lust after her, hath committed adultery with 
her already in his heart." 
I put these two instances together, because they both 



70 LECTURE VI. 

enforce the same great leading principle, and both il- 
lustrate one great distinguishing excellence of the mo- 
rality taught by our Saviour ; namely, that it does not 
content itself with merely controlling our outward ac- 
tions, but it goes much deeper, it imposes its restraints, 
it places its guard exactly where it ought to do, on our 
thoughts and on our hearts. Our Lord here singles out 
two cases, referring to two different species of passions, 
the malevolent and the sensual ; and he pronounces the 
same sentence, the same decisive judgment on both ; 
that the thing to be regulated is the intention, the passion, 
the propensity. Former moralists contented themselves 
with saying, Thou shalt not kill. But I (says our Lord) 
go much further ; I say, thou shalt not indulge any re- 
sentment against thy brother, thou shalt not use any re- 
proachful or contemptuous language towards him ; for 
it is these things that lead and provoke to the most 
atrocious deeds. Former moralists have said, Thou shalt 
not commit adultery. But I say, let not thine heart or 
thine eye commit adultery : for here it is that the sin 
begins : and here it must be crushed in its birth. 

This is wisdom, this is morality in its most perfect 
form, in its essence, and in its first principles. Every 
one that is acquainted with men and manners must 
know, that our Lord has here shown a consummate 
knowledge of human nature ; that he has laid his finger 
on the right place, and exerted his authority where it 
was most wanted, in checking the first movements of 
our criminal desires. Every one must see and feel, that 
bad thoughts quickly ripen into bad actions ; and that if 
the latter only are forbidden, and the former left free, 
all morality will soon be at an end. Our Lord, there- 
fore, like a wise physician, goes at once to the bottom of 
the evil; he extirpates the first germ and root of the 
disease, and leaves not a single fibre of it remaining to 
shoot up again in the heart. 

It was obvious to foresee, that the disciples, and the 
people to whom our Saviour addressed himself, would 
consider this as very severe discipline, and would com- 
plain bitterly, or at least murmur secretly, at the hard- 
ships of parting with all their favourite passions, of 
eradicating their strongest natural propensities, of watch- 
ing constantly every motion of their hearts, and guard- 
ing those issues of life and death, those fountains of 
virtue and of vice, with the most unremitting attention. 



MATTHEW V. 71 

But all this our Divine Master tells them is indis- 
pensably neccessary. All these cautions must be used, 
all this vigilance must be exercised, all this self-govern- 
ment must be exerted, all these sacrifices must be made. 
It is the price we are to pay (besides that price which 
our Redeemer paid), and surely no unreasonable one, 
for escaping eternal misery, and rendering ourselves 
capable of eternal glory. He therefore goes on to say, 
in terms highly figurative and alarming, but not too 
strong for the occasion, " If thy right eye offend thee, 
pluck it out and cast it from thee ; for it is profitable for 
thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that 
thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy 
right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee ; 
for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members 
should perish, and not that thy whole body should be 
cast into hell*." Every one must immediately see, that 
the eye to be plucked out is the eye of concupiscence, 
and the hand to be cut off is the hand of violence and 
vengeance ; that is, these passions are to be checked 
and subdued, let the conflict cost us what it may. 

This naturally leads our Divine Teacher, in the next 
verse, to a subject closely connected with one of our 
strongest passions ; and that is, the power of divorce. 
Among the Jews and the heathens, but more particu- 
larly the latter, this power was carried to a great ex- 
tent, and exercised with the most capricious and wanton 
cruelty. The best and most affectionate of wives were 
often dismissed for the slightest reasons, and sometimes 
without any reason at all. It was high time for some 
stop to be put to these increasing barbarities, and it was 
a task worthy of the Son of God himself to stand up as 
the defender and protector of the weak, of the most help- 
less and most oppressed part of the human species. Ac- 
cordingly he here declares, in the most positive terms, 
that the only legitimate cause of divorce is adultery. 
" It has been said, whosoever shall put away his wife, 
let him give her a writing of divorcement. But I say 
unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for 
the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery ; 
and whosoever marrieth her that is divorced committeth 
adultery t." This has, by the experience of ages, been 
found to be a most wise and salutary provision, and no 

* Matt, v, 29, 30. t Matt, v, 31, 32. 



72 LECTURE VI. 

less conducive to the happiness than to the virtue of 
mankind. And we are taught by the fatal example of 
other nations, that wherever this law of the Gospel has 
been abrogated or relaxed, and a greater facility of 
divorce allowed, the consequence has constantly been a 
too visible depravation of manners, and the destruction 
of many of the most essential comforts of the married 
state. 

The passage to which I shall next advert is the fol- 
lowing : " Ye have heard it has been said, An eye for an 
eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you, that 
ye resist not evil ; but whosoever shall smite thee on 
the right cheek, turn to him the other also ; and if any 
man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, 
let him have thy cloak also ; and whosoever shall com- 
pel thee to go a mile, go with him twain*." 

By the Mosaic law, retaliation was permitted : an eye 
for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, might legally be de- 
manded t. Among the ancient heathens, private revenge 
was indulged without scruple and without mercy. The 
savage nations in America, as well as in almost every 
other part of the world, set no bounds to the persevering 
rancour, and the cool, deliberate malignity, with which 
they will pursue, for years together, not only the person 
himself from whom they have received an injury, but 
sometimes every one related to or connected with him. 
The Arabs are equally implacable in their resentments ; 
and the Koran itself, in the case of murder, allows pri- 
vate revenge t. 

It was to check this furious, ungovernable passion, so 
universally prevalent over the earth, that our Saviour 
delivered the precepts now before us. " I say unto you, 
resist not evil ; but if any one smite thee on thy right 
cheek, turn to him the other also." No one can imagine, 
that this injunction, and those of the same kind that fol- 
low, are to be understood strictly and literally ; that we 
are to submit, without the least opposition, to every in- 
jury and every insult that is offered to us, and are ab- 
solutely precluded from every degree of self-preservation 
and self-defence. This can never be intended ; and the 
example of St. Paul, who repelled with proper spirit the 
insult offered him as a Roman citizen, very clearly proves, 

* Matt.v, 38— 41. f Levit. xxiv, 20; Deut.xix, 21. 

t Koran, v. 2, c.I7, p. 100. 



MATTHEW V. 73 

that we are not to permit ourselves to be trampled on 
by the foot of pride and oppression, without expressing a 
just sense of the injury done to us, and endeavouring to 
avert and repel it, It cannot therefore be meant, that 
if any one, by a cruel and expensive litigation, should 
deprive us of a part of our property, we should not only 
relinquish to him that part, but request him also to ac- 
cept every thing else we have in the world. 2s or can it 
be meant, that if a man should actually strike us on one 
cheek, we should immediately turn to him the other, and 
desire the blow to be repeated. This could not possibly 
answer any one rational purpose, nor conduce in the 
least to the peace and happiness of mankind, which 
were certainly the objects our Saviour had in view ; on 
the contrary, it would tend materially to obstruct both, 
by inviting injury, and encouraging insult and oppres- 
sion. Common sense, therefore, as well as common 
utility, require, that we should consider the particular 
instances of behaviour, under the injuries here specified, 
as nothing more than strong oriental idioms, as prover- 
bial and figurative expressions, intended only to convey 
a general precept, and to describe that peculiar temper 
and disposition which the Gospel requires ; that patience, 
gentleness, mildness, moderation, and forbearance, under 
injuries and affronts, which is best calculated to preserve 
the peace of our own minds, as well as that of the world at 
large ; which tends to soften resentment and turn away 
wrath ; and without which, on one side or the other, pro- 
vocations must be endless, and enmities eternal. 

All, therefore, that is here required of us is plainly and 
simply this, that we should not suffer our resentment of 
injuries to carry us beyond the bounds of justice, equity, 
and Christian charity ; that we should not (as St. Paul 
well explains this passage) " recompense evil for evil*," 
that is, repay one injury by committing another ; that we 
should not take fire at every slight provocation or trivial 
offence, nor pursue even the greatest and most flagrant 
injuries with implacable fury and inextinguishable ran- 
cour ; that we should make all reasonable allowances 
for the infirmities of human nature, for the passions, the 
prejudices, the failings, the misapprehensions, of those 
we have to deal with ; and, without submitting tamely 
to oppression or insult, or giving up rights of great and 

* Rom. xii, 17. 

H 



74 LECTURE VI. 

acknowledged importance, should always show a dispo- 
sition to conciliate and forgive ; and rather to recede 
and give way a little in certain instances, than insist on 
the utmost _ satisfaction and reparation that we have per- 
haps a strict right to demand. 

The chapter concludes with another remarkable pre- 
cept, which may strictly be called a new commandment ; 
for in no moral code is it to be found, till our Lord gave 
it a place in his. 

The precept is this : " Ye have heard, that it hath 
been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine 
enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless 
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and 
pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute 
you ; that ye may be the children of your Father which 
is in heaven ; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil 
and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the 
unjust*." 

So noble, so sublime, and so benevolent a precept, 
was never before given to man: and it is one strong 
proof, among many others, of the originality of our 
Saviour's character and religion. 

The Jews were expressly commanded to love their 
neighbour ; but this injunction was not extended to their 
enemies ; and they therefore thought that this was a 
tacit permission to hate them ; a conclusion which 
seemed to be much strengthened by their being enjoined 
to wage eternal war with one of tlfeir enemies, the Ca- 
naanites, to show them no mercy, but to root them out 
of the land. In consequence of this, they did entertain 
strong prejudices and malignant sentiments towards 
every other nation but their own, and were justly re- 
proached for this by the Roman historian , " apud ipsos 
misericordia in promptu, adversus omnes alios hostile 
odium f :" that is, towards each other they are com- 
passionate and kind; towards all others they cherish 
a deadly hatred. But it ought in justice to be observed, 
that this remark of Tacitus might have been applied, 
with almost equal aptitude, both to his own countrymen 
the Romans, and to the Greeks, for they gave to all 
other nations but themselves the name of barbarians; 
and, having stigmatized them with this opprobrious ap- 
pellation, they treated them as if they were in reality 

* Matt, v, 43—45. f Tacit. Hist, v, 6. 



MATTHEW V. 75 

what they had wantonly thought fit to call them. They 
treated them with insolence, contempt, and cruelty. 
They created and carried on unceasing hostilities against 
them, and never sheathed the sword till they had ex- 
terminated or enslaved them. 

In private life, also, it was thought allowable to pursue 
those with whom they were at variance with the keenest 
resentment and most implacable hatred ; to take every 
opportunity of annoying and distressing them, and not 
to rest till they had felt the severest effects of unrelent- 
ing vengeance. 

In this situation of the world, and in this general fer- 
ment of the malevolent passions, how seasonable, how 
salutary, how kind, how conciliatory, was the command 
to love, not only our friends, not only our neighbours, 
not only strangers, but even our enemies ! How graci- 
ous that injunction, " I say unto you, love your enemies ; 
do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, 
and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute 
you ! " And how touching, how irresistible, is the argu- 
ment used to enforce it : " That ye may be the children 
of your Father which is in Heaven ; for he maketh his 
sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain 
on the just and on the unjust 1 " 

It is remaikable, that the philosopher Seneca makes 
use of the same argument, not exactly for the same pur- 
pose, but for a similar one : " If," says he, " you would 
imitate the gods, confer favours even on the ungrateful, 
for the sun rises on the wicked, and the seas are open 
3ven unto pirates:" and again, "the gods show many 
acts of kindness even to the ungrateful*." It is highly 
probable that the philosopher took this sentiment from 
this very passage of St. Matthew ; for no such sublime 
morality is, I believe, to be found in any heathen writer 
previous to the Christian revelation. 

Seneca flourished and wrote after the Gospels were 
written, and after Christianity had made some progress. 
Besides this, he was brother to Gallio, the proconsul of 
Achaia, before whose tribunal St. Paul was brought by 
the Jews at Corinth t. From him he would of course 
receive much information respecting this new religion, 
and the principal characters concerned in it ; and from 
the extraordinary things he would hear of it from such 

* Sen. de Benef. lib. iv, c. 26 and c. 28. f Acts xviii, 12. 



76 LECTURE VI. 

authentic sources, his curiosity would naturally be ex- 
cited to look a little further into it, and to peruse the 
writings that contained the history and the doctrines of 
this new school of philosophy. This, and this only, can 
account for the fine strains of morality we sometimes 
meet with in Seneca, Plutarch, Marcus Antoninus, 
Epictetus, and the other philosophers who wrote after 
the Christian sera, and the visible superiority of their 
ethics to those of their predecessors before that period. 
But to return. 

It has been objected to this command of loving our 
enemies, that it is extravagant and impracticable ; that it 
is impossible for any man to bring himself to entertain 
any real love for his enemies ; and that human nature re- 
volts and recoils against so unreasonable a requisition. 

This objection evidently goes upon the supposition, 
that we are to love our enemies in the same manner and 
degree, and with the same cordiality and ardour of affec- 
tion, that we do our relations and friends. And if this 
were required, it might indeed be considered as a harsh 
injunction. But our Lord was not so severe a task- 
master as to expect this at our hands. There are dif- 
ferent degrees of love, as well as of every other human 
affection ; and these degrees are to be duly proportioned 
to the different objects of our regard. There is one de- 
gree due to our relations, another to our benefactors, 
another to our friends, another to strangers, another to 
our enemies. There is no need to define the precise 
shades and limits of each, our own feelings will save*us 
that trouble ; and in that only case where our feelings 
are likely to lead us wrong, this precept of our Lord will 
direct us right. 

And it exacts nothing but what is both reasonable and 
practicable. It explains what is meant by loving our 
enemies, in the words that immediately follow : " Bless 
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and 
pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute 
you :" that is, do not retaliate upon your enemy ; do not 
return his execrations, his injuries, and his persecutions, 
with similar treatment ; do not turn upon him his own 
weapons, but endeavour to subdue him with weapons of 
a celestial temper, with kindness and compassion. This 
is of all others the most effectual way of vanquishing an 
enraged adversary. The interpretation here given is 
amply confirmed by St. Paul in his epistle to the Ro« 



MATTHEW V. 77 

mans, which is an admirable comment on this passage. 
" Dearly beloved," says he, " avenge not yourselves, but 
rather give place unto wrath ; for vengeance is mine, I will 
repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, 
feed him : if he thirst, give him drink. Be not overcome 
of evil, but overcome evil with good *." This, then, is the 
love, that we are to show our enemies : not that ardour 
of affection, which we feel towards our friends, but that 
lower kind of love, which is called Christian charity (for it 
is the same word in the original), and which we ought to 
exercise towards every human being, especially in dis- 
tress. If even our enemy hunger, we are to feed him : 
if he thirst, we are to give him drink ; and thus shall 
obtain the noblest of all triumphs, "we shall overcome 
evil with good." The world, if they please, may call this 
meanness of spirit ; but it is in fact the truest mag- 
nanimity and elevation of soul. It is far more glorious 
and more difficult to subdue our own resentments, and 
to act with generosity and kindness to our adversary, 
than to make him feel the severest effects of our ven- 
geance. It is this noblest act of self-government, this 
conquest over our strongest passions, which our Saviour 
here requires. It is what constitutes the highest per- 
fection of our nature ; and it is this perfection which is 
meant in the concluding verse of this chapter; " Be ye 
therefore perfect, as your Father which is in Heaven is 
perfectf;" that is, in your conduct towards your ene- 
mies approach as near as you are able to that perfection 
of mercy which your heavenly Father manifests towards 
his enemies, towards the evil and the unjust, on whom 
he maketh his sun to rise as well as on the righteous and 
the just. This sense of the word perfect is established 
beyond controversy by the parallel passage in St. Luke ; 
where, instead of the terms made use of by St. Matthew, 
"Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father which is in 
Heaven is perfect," the evangelist expressly says, " Be ye 
therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful {." 

This, then, is the perfection which you are to exert your 
utmost efforts to attain ; and if you succeed in your at- 
tempt, your reward shall be great indeed ; you shall, as 
our Lord assures you, be the children of the Most High L 

Having now brought these Lectures to a conclusion 

* Rom.xii. 19— 21. t Matt, v, 48. 

t Lukevi, 36. 4 Matt, r, 45. 

H3 



78 LECTURE VI. 

for the present year, I cannot take my leave of you 
without expressing the great comfort and satisfaction I 
have derived from the appearance of such numerous and 
attentive congregations as I have seen in this place. 
That satisfaction, if I can at all judge of my own senti- 
ments and feelings, does not originate from any selfish 
gratification, but from the real interest I take in the 
welfare, the eternal welfare of every one here present ; 
from the hope I entertain, that some useful impressions 
may have been made upon your minds ; and from the 
evidence, which this general earnestness to hear the 
word of God explained and recommended affords, that 
a deeper sense of duty, a more serious attention to the 
great concerns of eternity, has, by the blessing of God, 
been awakened in your souls. If this be so, allow me 
most earnestly to entreat you not to let this ardour cool ; 
not to let these pious sentiments die away : not to let 
these good seeds be choked by the returning cares and 
pleasures of the world. But go, retire into your closets, 
fall down upon your knees before your Maker, and fer- 
vently implore him to pour down upon you the over- 
ruling influences of his Holy Spirit ; to enlighten your 
understandings, to sanctify your hearts, to subdue your 
passions, to confirm your good resolutions, and enable 
you to resist every enemy of your salvation. 

The world will soon again display all its attractions 
before you, and endeavour to extinguish every good prin- 
ciple you have imbibed. But if the divine truths you 
have heard explained and enforced in these Lectures 
have taken any firm root in your minds ; if you are se- 
riously convinced that Christ and his religion came from 
Heaven, and that he is able to make good whatever he 
has promised, and whatever he has threatened, there is 
nothing surely in this world, that can induce you to risk 
the loss of eternal happiness, or the infliction of never- 
ceasing punishment. 

Least of all will you think that this is the precise mo- 
ment for setting your affections on this world and its en- 
joyments ; that these are the times for engaging in eager 
pursuits after the advantages, the honours, the pleasures, 
of the present life ; for plunging into vice, for dissolving 
in gaiety and pleasure, for suffering every trivial, every 
insignificant object, to banish the remembrance of your 
Maker and Redeemer from your hearts, where they 
ought to reign unrivalled and supreme. Surely amidst 



MATTHEW V. 79 

the dark clouds, that now hang over us*, these are not 
the things, that will brighten up our prospects, that will 
lessen our danger, that will calm our apprehensions, 
and speak peace and comfort to our souls. No, it must 
be something of a very different nature ; a deep sense 
of our own unworthiness, a sincere contrition for our 
past offences, a prostration of ourselves in all humility 
before the throne of grace, an earnest application for 
pardon and acceptance, through the merits of him, who 
died for us (whose death and sufferings for our sakes 
the approaching week will bring fresh before our view), 
an ardent desire to manifest our love and gratitude, our 
devotion and attachment to our Maker and our Re- 
deemer, by giving them a decided priority and predomi- 
nance in our affections and our hearts ; by making their 
will the ruling principle of our conduct ; the attainment 
of their favour, the advancement of their glory, the chief 
object of our wishes and desires. These are the senti- 
ments we ought to cultivate and cherish, if we wish for 
any solid comfort under calamity or affliction, any con- 
fidence in the favour and protection of Heaven ; these 
alone can support and sustain our souls in the midst of 
danger and distress, at the hour of death, and in the day 
of judgment. 

And how then are these holy sentiments, these hea- 
venly affections, to be excited in our hearts? Most cer- 
tainly not by giving up all our time and all our thoughts 
to the endless occupations, the never-ceasing gaieties 
and amusements of this dissipated metropolis ; but by 
withdrawing ourselves frequently from this tumultuous 
scene, by retiring into our chamber, by communing with 
our own hearts, by fervent prayer, by holding high con- 
verse with our Maker, and cultivating some acquaint- 
ance with that unseen world to which we are all hasten- 
ing, and which, in one way or other, must be our por- 
tion for ever. 

Many of those, whom I now see before me, have, 
from their high rank and situation in life, full leisure 
and ample opportunities for all these important pur- 
poses ; and let them be assured, that a strict account 
will one day be demanded of them in what manner and 
with what effect they have employed the talents, the 

* fn March, 1798. 



80 LECTURE VI. 

time, and the many other advantages with which their 
gracious Maker has indulged them. 

And even those, who are most engaged in the busy 
and laborious scenes of life, have at least one day in the 
week which they may, and which they ought to dedicate 
to the great concerns of religion. Let then that day be 
kept sacred to its original destination by all ranks of 
men, from the highest to the lowest. Let it not be pro- 
faned by needless journies, by splendid entertainments, 
by crowded assemblies, by any thing, in short, which 
precludes either ourselves, our families, or our domes- 
tics, from the exercise of religious duties, or the im- 
provement of those pious sentiments and affections, 
which it was meant to inspire. Let me not, however, 
be misunderstood. I mean not, that it should be, either 
to the rich or the poor, or to any human being whatever, 
a day of gloom and melancholy, a day of superstitious 
rigour, and of absolute exclusion from all society and 
all innocent recreation. I know of nothing in Scripture 
that requires this ; I know of no good effects that could 
result from it. On the contrary, it is a festival, a joyful 
festival ; a day to which we ought always to look for- 
ward with delight, and enjoy with a thankful and a 
grateful heart. But let it be remembered at the same 
time, that it is a day, which God claims as his own ; that 
he has stamped upon it a peculiar mark of sanctity ; and 
that it ought to be distinguished from every other day, 
in the first place, by resting from our usual occupations, 
and giving rest to our servants and our cattle ; in the 
next, by attendance on the public worship of God ; and, 
in the remaining intervals, by relaxations and enjoy- 
ments peculiarly its own ; not by quotidian tumult, noise, 
and dissipation ; but by the calm and silent pleasures 
of retirement, of recollection, of devout meditation, of 
secret prayer, yet mingled discreetly with select society, 
with friendly converse, with sober recreation, and with 
decent cheerfulness throughout the whole. 

It was to draw off our attention from the common fol- 
lies and vanities of the week, and to give the soul a 
little pause, a little respite, a little breathing from in- 
cessant importunities of business and of pleasure, that 
this holy festival was instituted. And if we cannot give 
up these things for a single day, if we cannot make this 
small sacrifice to him from whom we derive our very 



MATTHEW V. 81 

existence, it is high time for us to look to our hearts, and 
to consider very seriously, whether such a disposition 
and temper of mind as this will ever qualify us for the 
kingdom of heaven. 

" Could ye not watch with me one hour?" said our 
Divine Master to his slumbering companions*. Can ye 
not give me one day out of seven 1 may he now say to 
his thoughtless disciples. Let none of us, then, ever sub- 
ject ourselves to this bitter reproach. Let us resolve 
from this moment to make the Christian sabbath a day 
of holy joy and consolation ; a day of heavenly rest and 
refreshment ; and, above all, a day for the attentive pe- 
rusal of those sacred pages, which have been the subject 
of these Lectures, and of your most serious attention. 
It is to be hoped, indeed, that we shall not confine our 
religion and our devotion to that day only; but even 
that day, properly employed, will in some degree sanc- 
tify all the rest. It will disengage us (as it was meant 
to do) gradually and gently from that world, which we 
must soon (perhaps sooner than we imagine) quit for 
ever ; it will raise our thoughts above the low and trivial 
pursuits of the present scene, and fix them on nobler and 
worthier objects ; it will refine and purify, exalt and 
spiritualize our affections ; will bring us nearer and 
nearer to God, and to the world of spirits ; and thus lead 
us on to that celestial sabbath^ that everlasting rest, 
for which the Christian sabbath was meant to prepare 
and to harmonize our souls. 

* Mark xiv, 37. 



LECTURE VII. 



MATTHEW VI, VII. 

In these two chapters our Lord continues and concludes 
his admirable discourse from the Mount. 

The first thing to be noticed here is a strong and re- 
peated caution to avoid all show and ostentation in the 
performance of our religious duties. 

The three instances specified are the acts of giving 
alms, of praying, and of fasting. 

The direction with regard to the first is, " Take heed 
that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them, 
otherwise ye have no reward of your Father, which is in 
heaven. Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, do not 
sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the 
synagogues, and in the streets, that they may have glory 
of men ; verily I say unto you, they have their reward. 
But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know 
what thy right hand doeth, that thine alms may be in 
secret ; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, himself 
shall reward thee openly*." 

In the same manner, with regard to prayer ; the rule 
is, " When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypo- 
crites are, for they love to pray standing in the syna- 
gogues, and in the corners of the streets, that they may 
be seen of men ; verily I say unto you, they have their 
reward. But thou, when thou hast shut thy door, pray 
to thy Father, which is in secret ; and thy Father, which 
seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly t." 

Lastly, a similar precaution applies also to the act of 
fasting ; " When ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a 
sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces, that they 

* Matt, vi, 1—4, t Matt, vi, 5, 6. 



MATTHEW VI, VII. 83 

may appear unto men to fast ; verily I say unto you, 
they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, 
anoint thy head and wash thy face, that thou appear not 
unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, which is in se- 
cret ; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall re- 
ward thee openly*." 

In all these passages the point to be noticed is a strong 
and marked disapprobation of every thing that looks like 
ostentation, parade, vain-glory, insincerity, or hypocrisy, 
in the discharge of our Christian duties. They show in 
the clearest light the spirit and temper of the Chad 
religion, which is modest, silent, retired, quiet, unob- 
trusive, shunning the observation and the applause of 
men, and looking only to the approbation of him, who 
seeth every thought of our hearts, and every secret mo- 
tive of our actions. 

They establish this as the grand principle of action 
for every disciple of Christ, that in every part of his 
moral and religious conduct he is to have no other ob- 
ject in view but the favour of God. This is the motive 
from which all his virtues are to flow. If he is actuated 
by any other ; if he courts the applause of the world, 
or is ambitious to acquire, by a show of piety, a charac- 
ter of sanctity among men, he may, perhaps, gain his 
point ; but it is all he will gain. He will have his re- 
ward here ; he must expect none hereafter. 

Having made this general observation upon the whole, 
I shall now proceed to remark on the particular in- 
stances adduced, in order to establish the leading prin- 
ciple. 

And, first, we are directed to give our alms so pri- 
vately, that (as our Lord most emphatically and ele- 
gantly expresses it) " our left hand shall not know what 
our right hand doeth." This evidently implies the ut- 
most secresy in the distribution of our charity ; and this 
is undoubtedly the rule we are in general to observe. 
But it is by no means to be inferred from hence, that 
we are never, on any occasion, to give our alms in pub- 
lic. In some cases, publicity is so far from being culpa- 
ble, that it is necessary, useful, and laudable. In con- 
tributing, for instance, to any public charity, or to the 
relief of some great calamity, private or public, we can- 
not well conceal our beneficence, or if we could we 

* Matt, vi, 16—18, 



84 LECTURE VII. 

ought not. Our example may induce many others to 
exert a similar generosity ; and, besides this, there are 
persons in certain situations, who are expected to be 
charitable, and who should give proofs to the world that 
they are so. And accordingly, in these and in such like 
cases, we are required to make our " light so shine be- 
fore men, that they may see our good works, and glorify 
our Father, which is in Heaven*." As far, therefore, 
as the reason of this command goes, it is not only allow- 
able, but our duty, to let our generous deeds be some- 
times known to the world. But then we ought to take 
especial care at the same time, that we bestow a much 
larger proportion of our alms in secresy and in silence ; 
that we suffer no one to witness our beneficence, but 
him, who must see every thing we do, and that we have 
no other object whatever in view, but his approbation, 
and his immortal rewards. 

The next instance, adduced to confirm the general 
principle of seeking the approbation not of men but of 
God, is that of prayer. 

" When thou pray est, thou shalt not be as the hypo- 
crites are, for they love to pray standing in the syna- 
gogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may 
be seen of men ; verily I say unto you, they have their 
reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy 
closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy 
Father, which is in secret ; and thy Father, which seeth 
in secret, shall reward thee openly." 

This passage has been made use of by some writers as 
an argument against all public prayer, which they say 
is here plainly prohibited. But for this there is not the 
smallest foundation. It is of private prayer only, that 
our Lord is here speaking ; and the hypocrites, whom 
he condemns, were those ostentatious Jews, who per- 
formed those devotions, which ought to have been con- 
fined to the closet, in the synagogues, and even in the 
public streets, that they might be noticed and applauded 
for their extraordinary piety and sanctity. But this re- 
proof could not possibly mean to extend to public devo- 
tions in places of worship. This is evident from the cor- 
ners of streets being mentioned ; for those are places in 
which public devotions are never performed. But, be- 
sides this, we find in Scripture, that public worship is 

* Matt, v, 1(5. 



MATTHEW VI, VII. 85 

enjoined as a duty of the highest importance. It made 
a considerable part of the Jewish religion, and the Mo- 
saic law is filled with precepts and directions concern- 
ing it. God declares by the prophet Isaiah, " that his 
house shall be called a house of prayer for all people*." 
Our Saviour quotes these very words when he cast out 
those that polluted the temple ; and was himself a con- 
stant frequenter of divine worship, both in the temple 
and in the synagogues. He taught his disciples (as we 
shall soon see) a form of prayer, which, though very 
proper to be used by any single person in private, yet 
is throughout expressed in the plural number, and 
adapted to the use of several persons praying at the 
same time. " If two of you," says he to his disciples 
on another occasion, " shall agree on Earth touching 
any thing, that they shall ask, it shall be done for them 
of my Father, which is in Heaven ; for where two or 
three are gathered together in my name, there am I in 
the midst of themf." By St. Paul we are commanded 
M not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as 
the manner of some is $" And we find, that after our 
Saviour's ascension, his followers " continued stedfastly 
in the apostle's doctrine and fellowship, and in prayer 
and supplication, praising God, and having favour with 
all the people §." 

It is, therefore, incontestably clear, that our Saviour 
could not possibly mean to forbid that public worship, 
which he himself practised and commanded. His in- 
tentions could only be to confine our private prayers to 
private places, in which we are to keep up a secret in- 
tercourse with our Maker, withdrawn from the eye of 
the world, and unobserved by any other than that Al- 
mighty Being to whom our petitions are addressed. 

The last instance produced by our Saviour is that of 
fasting. " When ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a 
sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces, that they 
may appear unto men to fast ; verily I say unto you, 
they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, 
anoint thy head, and wash thy face, that thou appear 
not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, which is in 
secret ; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall re- 
ward thee openly." 

* Isaiah hi, 7. t Matt, xviii, 19, 20. 

t Heb. x, 25. * Acts ii, 42, 47. 

I 



86 LECTURE VII. 

There is very little necessity to dwell on this precept 
here, for there are scarce any in these times and in this 
country who seem disposed to make a show of fasting, 
or to be ambitious of acquiring a reputation for that kind 
of religious discipline ; on the contrary, it is by great 
numbers entirely laid aside, and too frequently treated 
with derision and contempt. Yet from this very passage 
we may learn, that it ought to be considered in a much 
more serious light ; for although our Saviour did not 
command his disciples to fast whilst he was with them, 
yet he himself fasted for forty days. He here plainly 
supposes that his disciples did sometimes fast ; and gives 
them directions how to perform that duty in a manner 
acceptable to God. And it appears also, that if they did 
so perform it, if they fasted without any ostentation or 
parade, with a design not to catch the applause of men, 
but to approve themselves to God, he assured them 
" they should have their reward." 

Before we quit this division of the chapter, we must 
go back a little to that admirable form of prayer, which 
our Lord gave to his disciples, after cautioning them 
against all ostentation in their devotions. 

This prayer stands unrivalled in every circumstance 
that constitutes the perfection of prayer, and the excel- 
lence of that species of composition. It is concise, it is 
perspicuous, it is solemn, it is comprehensive, it is 
adapted to all ranks, conditions, and classes of men ; it 
fixes our thoughts on a few great important points, and 
impresses on our minds a deep sense of the goodness and 
the greatness of that Almighty Being to whom it is ad- 
dressed. 

It begins with acknowledging him to be our most 
gracious and merciful Father ; it begs that his name may 
everywhere be reverenced, that his religion may spread 
over the earth, and that his will may be obeyed by men 
with the same ardour, and alacrity, and constancy that it 
is by the angels in heaven. It next entreats the supply 
of all our essential wants, both temporal and spiritual ; 
a sufficiency of those things that are absolutely necessary 
for our subsistence ; the forgiveness of our transgressions, 
on condition that we forgive our brethren ; and, finally, sup- 
port under the temptations that assault our virtue, and 
deliverance from the various evils and calamities that 
everywhere surround us ; expressing at the same time 
the utmost trust and confidence in the power of God, to 



MATTHEW VI, VII. 87 

grant whatever he sees it expedient and proper for his 
creatures to receive. 

The full meaning, then, of this admirable prayer, and 
of the several petitions contained in it, may perhaps be 
not improperly expressed in the following manner : — 

O thou great Parent of the universe, our Creator, our 
Preserver, and continual Benefactor, grant that we and 
all reasonable creatures may entertain just and worthy 
notions of thy nature and attributes, may fear thy power, 
admire thy wisdom, adore thy goodness, rely upon thy 
truth ; may reverence thy holy name, may bless and 
praise thee, may worship and obey thee. 

Grant that all the nations of the earth may come to 
the knowledge and belief of thy holy religion ; that it 
may everywhere produce the blessed fruits of piety, 
righteousness, charity, and sobriety ; that, by a constant 
endeavour to obey thy holy laws, we may approach, as 
near as the infirmity of our nature will allow, to the 
more perfect obedience of the angels that are in heaven ; 
and thus qualify ourselves for entering into thy kingdom 
of glory hereafter. 

Feed us, we beseech thee, with food convenient for us. 
We ask not for riches and honours ; give us only what is 
necessary for our comfortable subsistence in the several 
stations which thy providence has allotted to us ; and, 
above all, give us contented minds. 

W r e are all, O Lord, the very best of us, miserable 
sinners. Be not extreme, we beseech thee, to mark what 
we have done amiss, but pity our infirmities, and pardon 
our offences. Yet let us not dare to implore forgiveness 
from thee, unless we also from our hearts forgive our 
offending brethren. 

We are surrounded on every side with temptations 
to sin; and such is the corruption and frailty of our 
nature, that without thy powerful succour we cannot 
always stand upright. Take us then, O gracious God, 
under thy almighty protection; and, amidst all the 
dangers and difficulties of our Christian warfare, be 
thou our refuge and support. Suffer us not to be 
tempted above what we are able to bear, but send thy 
Holy Spirit to strengthen our own weak endeavours, and 
enable us to escape or to subdue all the enemies of our 
salvation. 

Preserve us also, if it be thy blessed will, not only 
from spiritual, but from temporal evil. Keep us ever 



88 LECTURE VII. 

by thy watchful providence, both outwardly in our 
bodies, and inwardly in our souls ; that, thou being in 
all cases our ruler and guide, we may so pass through 
things temporal, as finally to lose not the things eternal. 

Hear us, O Lord our Governor, from heaven thy 
dwelling place ; and when thou hearest, have regard to 
our petitions. They are offered up to thee in the fullest 
confidence that thy goodness will dispose, and thy 
power enable thee to grant whatever thy wisdom sees 
to be convenient for us, and conducive to our final hap- 
piness. 

The next thing, which peculiarly demands our atten- 
tion in this chapter, is the declaration contained in the 
twenty-fourth verse, which presents to us another fun- 
damental principle of the Christian religion ; namely, 
the necessity of giving the first place in our hearts and 
our affections to God and religion, and pursuing other 
things only in subordination to those great objects. " No 
man/' says our Lord, " can serve two masters ; for either 
he will hate the one, and love the other ; or else he will 
hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot 
serve God and mammon*." 

The word mammon is generally interpreted to mean 
riches only ; but the original rather directs us to take it 
in a more general sense, as comprehending every thing^ 
that is capable of being an object of trust, or a ground of 
confidence to men of worldly minds; such as wealth, 
power, honour, fame, business, sensual pleasures, gay 
amusements, and all the other various pursuits of the 
present scene. It is these that constitute what we- 
usually express by the word world, when opposed to re- 
ligion. Here, then, are the two masters, who claim do- 
minion over us, God and the world , and one of these 
we must serve ; both we cannot, because their dispo- 
sitions and their commands are in general diametrically 
opposite to each other. The world invites us to indulge 
all our appetites without control ; to entangle ourselves; 
in the cares and distractions of business ; to engage with 
eagerness in endless contests for superiority in power,, 
wealth, and honour ; or to give up ourselves, body and 
soul, to gaiety, amusement, pleasure, and every kind of 
luxurious indulgence. These are the services which one 
master requires. But there is another master, whose in- 

* Matt, vi, 24 



MATTHEW VI, VH. 89 

junctions are of a very different nature. That master is 
God : and his commands are, to give him our hearts ; to 
love him with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and 
strength ; to be temperate in all things : to make our 
moderation known unto all men ; to hx our affections on 
things above : to have our conversation in heaven : to 
cast all our care upon him ; and to take up our cross and 
follow Christ. 

Judge now whether it be possible to serve these two 
masters at one and the same time, and to obey the com- 
mands of each ; commands so perfectly contradictory to 
each other. 

Yet this is what a great part of mankind most ab- 
surdly attempt ; endeavour to divide themselves between 
God and mammon, to compromise the matter as well as 
they can between the commands oi one and the seduc- 
tions of the other : to vibrate perpetually between vice 
and virtue, between piety and pleasure, between incli- 
nation and duty j to render a worldly life and a religious 
life consistent with each other : and to take as much as 
they can of the enjoyments and advantages of the pre- 
sent world, without loosing their hold on the rewards of 
the next. 

\ et, in direct contradiction to so extravagant and pre- 
posterous a system as this, Christ himself assures us here, 
that we cannot serve two masters ; that we cannot serve 
God and mammon. Our Maker expects to reign ab- 
solute in our hearts ; he will not be served by halves ; 
he will not accept of a divided empire : he will not suffer 
us to halt between two opinions. We must take our 
choice, and adhere to one side or the other. "If the 
Lord be God, follow him ; but if Baal, then follow 
him*/' 

But what then are we to do I Are we to live in a 
state of perpetual warfare and hostility with that very 
world in which the hand of Providence has placed us, 
and which is prepared in various ways for our reception 
and accommodation \ Are we never to taste of those 
various delights, which our Maker has poured so boun- 
tifully around us ! Are we never to indulge those ap- 
petites, which he himself has planted in our breasts ? 
Are we so entirely to confine ourselves to the paths of 
righteousness, as never to enter those that lead to power, 

* 1 Kinsrs xviii, 21. 

I 3 



90 LECTURE VII. 

to honour, to wealth, or to fame ? Are we to engage in 
no secular occupations, to make no provision for our- 
selves and our families 1 Are we altogether to withdraw 
ourselves from the cares, and business, and distractions of 
the world, and give ourselves wholly up to solitude, 
meditation, and prayer? Are we never to mingle in the 
cheerful amusements of society 1 Are we not to indulge 
ourselves in the refined pleasures of literary pursuits, nor 
wander even for a moment into the delightful regions of 
science or imagination 1 

Were this a true picture of our duties, and of the 
sacrifices which Christianity requires from us; were 
these the commands of our Divine Lawgiver, well might 
we say with the astonished disciples, " who then can be 
saved V 

But the God whom we serve is not so hard a master, 
nor does his religion contain any such severe restrictions 
as these. Christianity forbids no necessary occupations, 
no reasonable indulgences, no innocent relaxations. 
It allows us to use the world, provided we do not abuse 
it. It does not spread before us a delicious banquet, and 
then come with a " touch not, taste not, handle not*." 
All it requires is, that our liberty degenerate not into 
licentiousness, our amusements into dissipation, our 
industry into incessant toil, our carefulness into extreme 
anxiety and endless solicitude. So far from forbidding 
us to engage in business, it expressly commands us not 
to be slothful in it t, and to labour with our hands for 
the things that be needful ; it enjoins every one to abide 
in the calling wherein he was called:}:, and perform all 
the duties of it. It even stigmatizes those, that provide 
not for their own, with telling them, that they are worse 
than infidels §. When it requires us " to be temperate || 
in all things, ' it plainly tells us, that we may use all 
things temperately; when it directs us "to make our 
moderation known unto all men^f," this evidently im- 
plies, that within the bounds of moderation we may 
enjoy all the reasonable conveniences and comforts of 
the present life. 

But how then are we to reconcile this participation in 
the concerns of the present life with those very strong 

* Coloss. ii, 21. t Rom. xii, 11 ; 1 Cor. iv, 12. 

t 1 Cor. vii, 20. $ 1 Tim. v, 8. 

|| 1 Cor. ix, 25. ■% Philipp. iv, 5. 



MATTHEW VI, VII. 91 

declarations of Scripture, " that we are not to be con- 
formed to this world ; that the friendship of the world is 
enmity with God ; that we are to take no thought for the 
morrow ; that we are to lay np treasures nowhere but in 
heaven ; that we are to pray without ceasing ; that we 
are to do all things to the glory of God ; that we are not 
only to leave father, mother, brethren, and sisters, for 
the sake of Christ and his Gospel, but that if we do 
not hate all these near and dear connections, and even 
our own lives, we cannot be his disciples*." 

These, it must be acknowledged, are very strong ex- 
pressions, and, taken in their strict, literal sense, do 
certainly imply, that we are to abandon every thing that 
is most dear, and valuable, and delightful to us in this 
life, and to devote ourselves so entirely to the contem- 
plation, and love, and worship of God, as not to bestow 
a single thought on any thing else, or to give ourselves 
the smallest concern about the affairs of this sublunary 
state. 

But can any one imagine this to be the real doctrine 
of Scripture 1 You may rest assured, that nothing so 
unreasonable and extravagant is to be fairly deduced 
from these sacred writings. 

In order, then, to clear up this most important point, 
three things are to be considered : — 

First, That were these injunctions to be understood in 
their literal signification, it would be utterly impossible 
for us to continue a week longer in the world. If, for 
instance, we were bound to pray without ceasing, and 
to take no thought whatever for the morrow, we must all 
of us quickly perish for want of the common necessaries 
of life. 

Secondly, It must be observed, that all oriental writers, 
both sacred and profane, are accustomed to express 
themselves in bold ardent figures and metaphors, which, 
before their true meaning can be ascertained, require 
very considerable abatements, restrictions, and limita- 
tions. 

Thirdly, What is most of all to the purpose, these 
abatements are almost constantly pointed out by Scrip- 
ture itself; and whenever a very strong and forcible 
idiom is made use of, you will generally find it ex- 

* Rora. xii, 2; Jam. iv, 4; Matt, vi, 20, 34; 1 Thess. v, 17; 
Ephes. vi, 18; 1 Cor. x, 31 ; Luke xiv, 26. 



92 LECTURE VII 

plained and modified by a different expression of the 
same sentiment, which either immediately follows, or 
occurs in some other passage of Scripture. 

Thus, in the present instance, when Christ says, " ye 
cannot serve God and mammon ; therefore take no 
thought for your life, what ye shall eat and what ye 
shall drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put 
on ;" this is most clearly explained a few verses after in 
these words : " seek ye first the kingdom of God and his 
righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto 
you*." The meaning therefore of the precept is evidently 
this ; not that we are absolutely to take no thought for our 
life, and the means of supporting it ; but that our thoughts 
are not to be wholly or principally occupied with these 
things. We are not to indulge an immoderate and unceas- 
ing anxiety and solicitude about them ; for that indeed is 
the true meaning of the original word /xs^yuvaw. In our 
English Bible, that word is translated take no thought ; 
but, at the time when our translation was made, that 
expression signified only be not too careful. Our hearts, 
as it is expressed in another place, are not to be over- 
charged with the cares of this life t, so as to exclude all 
other concerns, even those of religion. 

In the same manner with respect to pleasures, we are 
not forbid to have any love for them ; we are only com- 
manded not to be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of 
God*. 

When therefore it is said, ye cannot serve God and 
mammon, the point contended for in respect to God is 
not exclusive possession, but exclusive dominion. Other 
things may occasionally, for a certain time, and to a 
certain degree, have possession of our minds, but they 
must not rule, they must not reign over them. We can- 
not serve two masters : we can serve but one faithfully 
and effectually, and that one must be God. The con- 
cerns and comforts of this life may have their due place 
in our hearts, but they must not aspire to the first; this 
is the prerogative of religion alone; religion must be 
supreme and paramount over all. Every one, it has 
been often said, has his ruling passion. The ruling pas- 
sion of the Christian must be the love of his Maker and 
Redeemer. This it is which must principally occupy his 
thoughts, his time, his attention, his heart. If there be 

* Matt, vi, 25, 33. t Luke xxi, 34. % 2 Tim. iii, 4. 



MATTHEW VI, VII. 93 

any thing else, which has gained the ascendancy over 
our souls, bn which our desires, our wishes, our hopes, 
our fears, are chiefly fixed, God is then dispossessed of 
his rightful dominion over us ; we serve another master, 
and we shall think but little of our Maker, or any thing 
belonging to him. 

His empire over our hearts must, in short, at all events 
be maintained. When this point is once secured, every 
inferior gratification, that is consistent with his sove- 
reignty, his glory, and his commands, is perfectly allow- 
able ; every thing that is hostile to them must at once be 
renounced. 

This is a plain rule, and a very important one. It is 
the principle which our blessed Lord meant here to 
establish, and it must be the governing principle of our 
lives. 

Next to this in importance is another command, which 
you will find in the twelfth verse of the seventh chapter : 
" all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to 
you, do ye even so to them ; for this is the law and the 
prophets." As the former precepts, which we have 
been considering, relate to God, this relates to man ; it 
is the grand rule, by which we must in all cases regulate 
our conduct towards our neighbour ; and it is a rule, 
plain, simple, concise, intelligible, comprehensive, and 
every way worthy of its divine Author. Whenever we 
are deliberating how we ought to act towards our neigh- 
bour in any particular instance, we must for a moment 
change situations with him in our own minds, we must 
place him in our circumstances, and ourselves in his, 
and then, whatever we should wish him to do to us, that 
we are to do to him. This is a process, in which, if we 
act fairly and impartially, we can never be mistaken. 
Our own feelings will determine our conduct at once 
better than all the casuists in the world. 

But, before we entirely quit the consideration of this 
precept, we must take some notice of the observation 
subjoined to it, which will require a little explanation. 

u Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, 
do ye even so to them ; for this is the law and the pro- 
phets." 

The concluding clause, " this is the law and the pro- 
phets," has by some been interpreted to mean, this is the 
sum and substance of all religion ; as if religion consisted 
solely in behaving justly and kindly to our fellow-crea- 



94 LECTURE VII. 

tures, and beyond this no other duty was required at 
our hands. But this conclusion is as groundless as it is 
dangerous and unscriptural. 

There are duties surely of another order, equally ne- 
cessary at least, and equally important with those we 
owe to our neighbour. 

There are duties, in the first place, owing to our 
Creator, whom we are bound to honour, to venerate, to 
worship, to obey, and to love with all our hearts and 
souls, and mind, and strength. There are duties owing 
to our Redeemer, of affection, attachment, gratitude, 
faith in his divine mission, and reliance on the atone- 
ment he made for us on the cross. There are, lastly, 
acts of discipline and self-government to be exercised 
over our corrupt propensities and irregular desires. Ac- 
cordingly, in the very chapter we have just been con- 
sidering, we are commanded to seek first the kingdom 
of God and his righteousness. We are in another place 
informed, that the love of God is the first and great 
commandment, and the love of our neighbour only the 
second ; and we are taught by St. James, that one main 
branch of religion is to keep ourselves unspotted from 
the world*. It is impossible, therefore, that our blessed 
Lord could here mean to say, that our duty towards our 
neighbour was the whole of his religion ; he says no- 
thing, in fact, of his religion ; he speaks only of the 
Jewish religion, the law and the prophets ; and of these 
he only says, that one of the great objects they have in 
view is to inculcate that same equitable conduct towards, 
our brethren, which he here recommended t. 

Let no one, then, indulge the vain imagination, that a. 
just, and generous, and compassionate conduct towards 
his fellow-creatures, constitutes the whole of his duty, 
and will compensate for the want of every other Chris- 
tian virtue. 

This is a most fatal delusion ; and yet in the present 
times a very common one. Benevolence is the favourite, 
the fashionable virtue of the age ; it is universally cried 
up by infidels and libertines as the first and only duty of 
man ; and even many, who pretend to the name of 
Christians, are too apt to rest upon it as the most essen- 

* James i, 27. 

t See chap, xxii, 40; Rom. xiii, 8; Gal. v, 14; and Grotius on 
this verse. 



MATTHEW VI, VII. 95 

tial part of their religion, and the chief basis of their 
title to the rewards of the Gospel. But that Gospel, as 
we have just seen, prescribes to us several other duties, 
which require from us the same attention as those we 
owe to our neighbour ; and, if we fail in any of them, 
we can have no hope of sharing in the benefits procured 
for us by the sacrifice of our Redeemer. What, then, 
God and nature, as well as Christ and his apostles, have 
joined together, let no man dare to put asunder. Let 
no one flatter himself with obtaining the rewards, or 
even escaping the punishments of the Gospel, by per- 
forming only one branch of his duty ; nor let him ever 
suppose, that under the shelter of benevolence he can 
either, on the one hand, evade the first and great com- 
mand, the love of his Maker ; or, on the other hand, 
that he can securely indulge his favourite passions, can 
compound, as it were, with God for his sensuality by 
acts of generosity, and purchase by his wealth a general 
license to sin. This may be very good pagan morality, 
may be very good modern philosophy, but it is not 
Christian godliness. 

As it is my purpose to touch only on the most import- 
ant and most generally useful parts of our Saviour's dis- 
course, I shall pass over what remains of it, and hasten 
to the conclusion, which is expressed by the sacred his- 
torian in these words : " And it came to pass, that when 
Jesus had finished these sayings, the people were asto- 
nished at his doctrine ; for he taught them as one having 
authority, and not as the scribes*." Both his matter 
and his manner were infinitely beyond any thing they 
had ever heard before. He did not, like the heathen 
philosophers, entertain his hearers with dry metaphy- 
sical discourses on the nature of the supreme good, and 
the several divisions and subdivisions of virtue ; nor did 
he, like the Jewish rabbies, content himself with deal- 
ing out ceremonies and traditions, with discoursing on 
mint and cummin, and estimating the breadth of a phy- 
lactery ; but he drew off their attention, from these 
trivial and contemptible things, to the greatest and the 
noblest objects ; the existence of one supreme Almighty 
Being, the creator, preserver, and governor of the uni- 
verse ; the first formation of man ; his fall from original 
innocence ; the consequent corruption and depravity of 
his nature ; the remedy provided for him by the good- 

* Matt, vii, 28, 29. 



96 LECTURE VII. 

ness of our Maker and the death of our Redeemer ; the 
nature of that divine religion, which he himself came to 
reveal to mankind ; the purity of heart and sanctity of 
life which he required; the communications of God's 
Holy Spirit to assist our own feeble endeavours here, and 
a crown of immortal glory to recompense us hereafter. 

The morality he taught was the purest, the soundest, 
the sublimest, the most perfect, that had ever before 
entered into the imagination or proceeded from the lips 
of man. And this he delivered in a manner the most 
striking and impressive; in short, sententious, solemn, 
important, ponderous rules and maxims, or in familiar, 
natural, affecting similitudes and parables. He showed, 
also, a most consummate knowledge of the human heart, 
and dragged to light all its artifices, subtleties, and eva- 
sions. He discovered every thought as it arose in the 
mind; he detected every irregular desire before it ripened 
into action. He manifested at the same time the most 
perfect impartiality. He had no respect of persons. He 
reproved vice in every station, wherever he found it, with 
the same freedom and boldness ; and he added to the 
whole the weight, the irresistible weight, of his own 
example. He, and he only, of all the sons of men, 
acted up in every the minutest instance to what he 
taught ; and his life exhibited a perfect portrait of his 
religion. But what completed the whole was, that he 
taught, as the evangelist expresses it, " with authority/' 
with the authority of a divine teacher. The ancient phi- 
losophers could do nothing more than give good advice 
to their followers ; they had no means of enforcing that 
advice : but our great Lawgiver's precepts are all divine 
commands. He spoke in the name of God : he called 
himself the Son of God. He spoke in a tone of superi- 
ority and authority, which no one before had the courage 
or the right to assume : and, finally, he enforced every 
thing he taught by the most solemn and awful sanctions, 
by a promise of eternal felicity to those who obeyed him, 
and a denunciation of the most tremendous punishment 
to those who rejected him. 

These were the circumstances, which gave our blessed 
Lord the authority with which he spake. No wonder, 
then, that the people " were astonished at his doctrines,, 
and that they all declared he spake as never man 
spake*." 

* John vii, 46. 



LECTURE VIII. 



MATTHEW VIII. 

The eighth chapter of St. Matthew, a part of which will 
J oe the subject of this Lecture, begins with the miracu- 
lous cure of the leper, which is related in the following 
manner : — 

" When our Lord was come down from the mountain, 
great multitudes followed him ; and, behold, there came 
a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt 
thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his 
hand and touched him, saying, I will ; be thou clean : 
and immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus 
saith unto him, See thou tell no man ; but go thy way, 
show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses 
commanded, for a testimony unto them." 

The leprosy is a disorder of the most malignant and 
disgusting nature. It was once common in Europe. 
Those infected with it were called lazars, who were se- 
parated from all human society (the disease being highly 
contagious), and were confined in hospitals called lazar- 
ettos, of which, it is said, there were no less than nine 
thousand at one time in Europe. For the last two hun- 
dred years this distemper has almost entirely vanished 
from this and other countries of Europe, and an instance 
of it now is but seldom to be met with. In the East it 
still exists to a certain degree ; and there in former ages 
it had its source and origin, and raged for a great length 
of time with extraordinary violence. 

In the law of, Moses there are very particular direc- 
tions given concerning the treatment of lepers, and a 
ceremonial appointed for the examination of them by the 
priest when they were supposed to be cured. But no 
natural remedy is prescribed by Moses for the cure of 

K 



98 LECTURE VIII. 

it. It was considered by the Jews as a disease sent by 
God, and to be cured only by his interposition. There 
could not therefore be a stronger proof of our Saviour's 
divine power, than his curing this most loathsome dis- 
ease, of which many instances beside this occur in the 
Gospels. The manner, too, in which he performed this 
cure was equally an evidence, that all the fulness of the 
Godhead dwelt in him*- it was instantaneous, with a 
touch, and a few words, and those words the most sub- 
lime and dignified that can be imagined : " I will ; be 
thou clean : and immediately the leprosy departed from 
him." This was plainly the language as well as the act 
of a God. I will ; be thou clean. 

Yet with all this supernatural power there was no 
ostentation or parade, no arrogant contempt of ancient 
ceremonies and institutions (which an enthusiast al- 
ways tramples under foot) ; but, on the contrary, a per- 
fect submission to the established laws and usages of 
his country. He said to the man, who was healed, 
" See thou tell no man; but go thy way, show thy- 
self to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses com- 
manded, for a testimony unto them." Here he gave at 
once a striking example both of humility and obe- 
dience. He enjoined the man to keep secret the asto- 
nishing miracle he had wrought, and he commanded 
him to comply with the injunctions of Moses ; to show 
himself to the priest, to undergo the examination, and 
to offer the sacrifice prescribed by the lawt; which, 
at the same time that it showed his disposition to fulfil 
all righteousness, established the truth of the miracle be- 
yond all controversy, by making the priest himself the 
judge of the reality of the cure. This was not the mode 
which an impostor would have chosen. 

After this miracle, the next incident that occurs is 
the remarkable and interesting story of the centurion, 
whose servant was cured of the palsy by our Saviour. 
The relation of this miracle is as follows-: " When Jesus 
was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a cen- 
turion, beseeching him and saying, Lord, my servant 
lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented $" 

* Coloss. ii, 9. t Lev. xiv. 

% In the parallel passage of St. Luke, chap, vii, it is said, that the 
centurion sent messengers to Jesus ; but no mention is made of his 
coming to him in person, This difficulty may be cleared up by ob- 
serving, that in Scripture what any person does by his messengers 



MATTHEW VIII. 99 

And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The 
centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy 
that thou shouldest come under my roof; but speak the 
word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am 
a man under authority, having soldiers under me ; and I 
say unto this man, Go, and he goeth ; and to another, 
Come, and he cometh ; and to a third, Do this, and he 
doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said 
to them that followed him, Verily I say unto you, I have 
not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And Jesus 
said unto the centurion, Go thy way ; and as thou hast 
believed, so be it done unto thee j and his servant was 
healed in the self-same hour." 

This is the short and edifying history of the Roman 
centurion • and the reason of its being recorded by the 
sacred writers was, in the first place, to give a most 
striking evidence of our Saviour's divine power, which 
enabled him to restore the centurion's servant to health 
at a distance, and without §o much as seeing him ; and, 
in the next place, to set before us, in the character of 
the centurion, an illustrious example of those eminent 
Christian virtues, humanity and charity, piety and ge- 
nerosity, humility and faith. 

Of the former of these virtues, humanity and charity, 
he gave a very convincing proof in the solicitude he 
showed for the welfare of his servant, and the strong 
interest he took in the recovery of his health. And this 
is the more remarkable, and the more honourable to the 
centurion, because, in general, the treatment which the 
servants of the Romans experienced from their masters 
was very different indeed from what we see in the pre- 
sent instance. These servants were almost all of them 
slaves, and were too commonly treated with extreme 
rigour and cruelty. They were often strained to labour 

he is frequently represented as doing - by himself. Thus Christ, who 
preached to the Ephesians by his apostles, is said to have preached 
to them himself, Eph. ii, 17. But it seems to me not at all im- 
probable, that the centurion may both have sent mesengers to Jesus, 
and afterwards gone to him in person. "Not thinking himself 
worthy" (as he himself expresses it), to go to Christ in the first in- 
stance, he sent probably the elders of the Jews, and then some of 
his friends, to implore our Lord to heal his servant, not meaning to 
give him the trouble of coming to his house. But when he found 
that Jesus was actually on his way to him, what was more natural 
for him than to hasten out of his house to meet him, and to make 
his acknowledgments to him in person I 



100 LECTURE VIII. 

beyond their strength, were confined to loathsome dun- 
geons, were loaded with chains, were scourged and tor- 
tured without reason, were deserted in sickness and old 
age, and put to death for trivial faults and slight suspi- 
cions, and sometimes out of mere wantonness and cru- 
elty, without any reason at all. Such barbarity as this, 
which was at that time by no means uncommon, which 
indeed has in a greater or less degree universally pre- 
vailed in every country where slavery has been es- 
tablished, and which shows in the strongest light the 
danger of trusting absolute power of any kind, political 
or personal, in the hands of such a creature as man ; this 
barbarity, I say, forms a most striking contrast to the 
kindness and compassion of the centurion, who, though 
he had so much power over his slaves, and so many in- 
stances of its severest exertion before his eyes, yet made 
use of it, as we here see, not for their oppression and 
destruction, but their happiness, comfort, and pre- 
servation. 

The next virtues which attract our notice in the cen- 
turion's character are his piety and generosity. These 
were eminently displayed in the affection he manifested 
towards the Jewish people, and his building them a place 
of worship at his own expense ; for the elders of the 
Jews informed Jesus, "that he loved their nation, and 
had built them a synagogue *." 

The Jews, it is well known, were at this time under 
the dominion of the Romans. Their country was a 
Roman province, where this centurion had a military 
command ; and they who are acquainted with the Ro- 
man history know well with what cruelty, rapacity, and 
oppression, the governors and commanding officers in 
the conquered provinces too commonly behaved towards 
the people whom they were sent to keep in awe. So far 
were they from building them temples or synagogues, 
that they frequently invaded even those sacred retreats, 
and laid their sacrilegious hands on every thing that was 
valuable in them. Of this we have abundant proofs in 
the history of Verres, when governor of Sicily ; and 
Verres was in many respects a faithful representative of 
too large a part of the Roman governors. In the midst 
of this brutality and insolence of power does this gallant 
soldier stand up to patronize and assist a distressed and 

* Luke vii, 5. 



MATTHEW VIII. 101 

an injured people ; and it is a testimony as glorious to 
his memory as it is singular and almost unexampled in 
his circumstances, that he " loved the Jewish nation," 
and that he gave a very decisive and magnificent proof 
of it, by building them a synagogue ; for there cannot 
be a stronger indication, both of love to mankind and love 
towards God, than erecting places of worship where they 
are wanted*. Without buildings to assemble in, there 
can be no public worship ; without public worship there 
can be no religion : and what kind of creatures men 
become without religion ; into what excesses of bar- 
barity, ferocity, impiety, and every species of profligacy, 
they quickly plunge, we have too plainly seen; God 
grant that we may never feel ! 

The next remarkable feature in the character of the 
centurion is his humility. How completely this most 
amiable of human virtues had taken possession of his 
soul is evident from the manner in which he solicited 
our Saviour for the cure of his servant ; how cautious, 
how modest, how diffident, how timid, how fearful of 
offending, even whilst he was only begging an act of 
kindness for another ! Twice did he send messengers to 
our Lord, as thinking himself unworthy to address him 
in his own person ; and when at our Saviour's approach 

* There is a most dreadful want of this nature in the western 
part of this great metropolis. From St. Martin's-in-the-Fields to 
Marylebone church inclusive, a space containing perhaps 200,000 
souls, there are only five parish churches, St. Martin's, St. Anne's 
Soho, St. James's, *St. George's Hanover Square, and the very small 
church at Marylebone. There are, it is true, a few chapels' inter 
spersed in this place ; but what they can contain is a mere trifle, 
compared to the whole number of inhabitants in those parts; and 
the lowest classes are almost entirely excluded from them. The 
only measure that can be of any essential service is the erection of 
several spacious parish churches, capable of receiving very large 
congregations, and affording decent accommodations for the lower 
and inferior, as well as the higher orders of the people. In the reign 
of Queen Anne, a considerable sum of money was voted by Par- 
liament for fifty new churches. Jt is most devoutly to be wished, 
that the presentParliament would, to a certain extentat least, follow 
so honourable an example. Jt is, I am sure, in every point of view, 
political, moral, and religious, well worthy the attention of the 
British legislature. A sufficient number of new parish churches 
erected both in the capital and in other parts of the kingdom where 
they are wanted, for the use of the members of the church of Eng- 
land of all conditions, would very essentially conduce to the interests 
of religion, and the security and" welfare of the established church, 

K 3 
I 



102 LECTURE VIII. 

to his house he himself came out to meet him, it was 
only to entreat him not to trouble himself any further ; 
for that he was not worthy that Jesus should enter under 
his roof. 

This lowness of mind in the centurion is the more re- 
markable, because humility, in the Gospel sense of the 
word, is a virtue with which the ancients, and more par- 
ticularly the Romans, were totally unacquainted. They 
had not even a word in their language to describe it by. 
The only word that seems to express it, humilitas, sig- 
nifies baseness, servility, and meanness of spirit, a thing 
very different from true Christian humility ; and indeed 
this was the only idea they entertained of that virtue. 
Every thing that we call meek and humble, they con- 
sidered as mean and contemptible. A haughty, im- 
perious, overbearing temper, a high opinion of their own 
virtue and wisdom, a contempt of all other nations but 
their own, a quick sense and a keen resentment, not only 
of injuries, but even of the slightest affronts, this was the 
favourite and predominant character among the Romans ; 
and that gentleness of disposition, that low estimation of 
our own merits, that ready preference of others to our- 
selves, that fearfulness of giving offence, that abasement 
of ourselves in the sight of God which we call humility > 
they considered as the mark of a tame, abject, and un- 
manly mind. When, therefore, we see this virtuous cen- 
turion differing so widely from his countrymen in this 
respect, we may certainly conclude, that his notions of 
morality were of a much higher standard than theirs, and 
that his disposition peculiarly fitted him for the recep- 
tion of the Gospel. For humility is that virtue, which, 
more than any other, disposes the mind to yield to the 
evidences, and embrace the doctrines of the Christian 
revelation. It is that virtue which the Gospel was pe- 
culiarly meant to produce, on which it lays the greatest 
stress, and in which, perhaps more than any other, con- 
sists the true essence and vital principle of the Christian 
temper. We therefore find the strongest exhortations to it 
in almost every page of the Gospel : " I say to every 
man that is among you," says St. Paul, "not to think 
more highly of himself than he ought to think, but 
to think soberly. Mind not high things : be not wise in 
your own conceits, but condescend to men of low estate. 
Stretch not yourselves beyond your measure. Blessed 
are the poor in spirit, says our Lord, for theirs is the 



MATTHEW VIII. 103 

kingdom of heaven. Whosoever shall humble himself as 
a little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of 
heaven. Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect 
to the lowly : as for the proud, he beholdeth them afar 
off. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and 
he shall lift you up. God resisteth the proud, but giveth 
grace to the humble. Learn of me, says our Saviour, 
for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest 
unto your souls*." 

I come now, lastly, to consider that remarkable part 
of the centurion's character, more particularly noticed by 
our Lord, I mean his faith. " I say unto you, I have 
not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." Now the 
reason of the high encomiums bestowed on him by our 
Saviour on this account was, because he reasoned him- 
self into a belief of our Lord's power to work miracles, 
even at a distance ; because he, who had been bred up 
in the principles of heathenism, and whose only guide 
was the light of nature, did notwithstanding frankly sub- 
mit himself to sufficient evidence, and was induced,, by 
the accounts he had received of our Saviour's doctrines 
and miracles, to acknowledge that he was a divine per- 
son. Whereas the Jews, to whom he was first and prin- 
cipally sent, who from their infancy were instructed in 
the Holy Scriptures, in which were such plain and ex- 
press promises of the Messiah, and who actually did ex- 
pect his coming about that time, suffered themselves to 
be so blinded by their prejudices and passions, that nei- 
ther the unspotted sanctity of his life, the excellency of 
his doctrine, nor the repeated and astonishing miracles 
which he wrought, could make the slightest impression 
on the greater part of that stubborn people. Hence we 
may see how impossible it is for any degree of evidence 
to convince those who are determined not to be convinced ; 
and what little hopes there are of ever satisfying modern 
infidels, if they will not be content with the proofs they 
already have. They are continually complaining for want 
of evidence ; and so were the Jews always calling out for 
new signs and new wonders, even when miracles were 
daily wrought before their eyes. We may therefore say 
of the former what our Saviour said of the latter, " If 
they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they 
be persuaded, though one rose from the deadt." It is 

* Rom. xii, 3, 6; 2 Cor. x, 14; Matt, v, 3; xviii, 4; Psalm 
cxxxviii, 6; James iv, 6, 10; Matt, xi, 29. 
t Luke xvi, 31 . 



104 LECTURE VIII. 

possible, we find, for incredulity to resist even ocular de- 
monstration ; and when obstinacy, vanity, and vice, have 
got thorough possession of the heart, they will not only 
subdue reason and enslave the understanding, but even 
bar up all the senses, and shut out conviction at every 
inlet to the mind. This was most eminently the case 
with some of the principal Jews. Because our Saviour's 
appearance did not correspond to their erroneous and 
preconceived idea of the Messiah, because he was not a 
triumphant prince, a temporal hero and deliverer, but, 
above all, because he upbraided them with their vices, 
and preached up repentance and reformation, every tes- 
timony that he could give of his divine authority and 
power was rejected with scorn. In vain did he feed 
thousands with a handful of provisions; in vain did he 
send away diseases with a word ; in vain did he make 
the graves give back their dead, rebuke the winds and 
waves, and evil spirits still more unruly and obstinate 
than they. In answer to all this they could say, " Is 
not this the carpenter's son ? Does he not eat and drink 
with publicans and sinners, and with unwashen hands 1 
Does he not even break the sabbath, by commanding 
sick men to carry their beds on that sacred day* V* 
These, doubtless, were unanswerable arguments against 
miracles, signs, and prophecies, against the evidence of 
sense itself, against the universal voice of nature, bear- 
ing testimony to Christ ! 

The honest centurion, on the contrary, without any 
Judaical prejudices to distort his understanding, without 
asking any ill-timed and impertinent questions about the 
birth or family of Christ, attends only to the facts before 
him. He had heard of Jesus, had heard of his unble- 
mished life, his heavenly doctrines, his numerous and 
astonishing miracles, had heard them confirmed by such 
testimony as no ingenuous mind could resist. He im- 
mediately surrenders himself up to such convincing evi- 
dence ; and so far from requiring (as the Jews con- 
tinually did, and as modern sceptics still do) more and 
stronger proofs, he seems afraid of showing the slightest 
distrust of our Saviour's power. He declares his belief 
of his being able to perform a miracle at any distance ; 
and entreats him not to give himself the trouble of com- 
ing to his house in person, but to speak the word only 
and his servant should be healed. 

* Matt.ix, 11 ; xiii, 55; Luke xi, 38; John v, 18. 



.MATTHEW VIII. 105 

This, then, is the disposition of mind we ought more 
particularly to cultivate ; that freedom from self-suffi- 
ciency, and pride, and prejudice of every kind, that sim- 
plicity and singleness of heart which is open to convic- 
tion, and receives, without resistance, the sacred im- 
pressions of truth. It is the want of this, not of evi- 
dence, that still makes infidels in Europe, as it did at first 
in Asia. It is this principle, operating in different ways, 
which now imputes to fraud and collusion those mira- 
cles which the Jews ascribed to Beelzebub ; which now 
rejects all human testimony, as it formerly did even the 
perceptions of sense. 

Such were the distinguished virtues of this excellent 
centurion ; the contemplation of whose character sug- 
gests to us a variety of important remarks. 

The first is, that the miracles of our Lord had the 
fullest credit given to them, not only (as is sometimes 
asserted) by low, obscure, ignorant, and illiterate men, 
but by men of rank and character, by men of the world, 
by men perfectly competent to ascertain the truth of any 
facts presented to their observation, and not likely to be 
imposed upon by false pretences. Of this description 
were the centurion here mentioned ; the Roman pro- 
consu], Sergius Paulus ; Dionysius, a member of the 
supreme court of Areopagus at Athens ; and several 
others of equal dignity and consequence. 

Secondly, the history of the centurion teaches us, that 
there is no situation of life, no occupation, no profession, 
however unfavourable it may appear to the cultivation 
of religion, which precludes the possibility or exempts 
us from the obligation of acquiring those good dispo- 
sitions, and exercising those Christian virtues, which the 
Gospel requires. Alen of the world are apt to imagine 
that religion was not made for them ; that it was in- 
tended only for those who pass their days in obscurity, 
retirement, and solitude, where they meet with nothing 
to interrupt their devout contemplations, no allurements 
to divert their attention, and seduce their affections from 
heaven and heavenly things. But as to those, whose lot 
is cast in the busy and the tumultuous scenes of life, who 
are engaged in various occupations and professions, or 
surrounded with gaieties, with pleasures and temptations, 
it cannot be expected, that, amidst all these impediments, 
interruptions, and attractions, they can give up much of 
their time and thoughts to another and a distant world, 



106 LECTURE VIII. 

when they have so many things that press upon them and 
arrest their attention in this. 

These, I am persuaded, are the real sentiments, and 
they are perfectly conformable to the actual practice, 
of a large part of mankind. But to all these pretences 
the instance of the centurion is a direct, complete, and 
satisfactory answer. He was, by his situation in life, a 
man of the world. His profession was that which of all 
others is generally considered as most adverse to religi- 
ous sentiments and habits, most contrary to the peaceful, 
humane, and gentle spirit of the Gospel, and most ex- 
posed to the fascination of gaiety, pleasure, thoughtless- 
ness, and dissipation. Yet amidst all these obstructions 
to purity of heart, to mildness of disposition, and sanc- 
tity of manners, we see this illustrious centurion rising 
above all the disadvantages of his situation, and, instead 
of sinking into vice and irreligion, becoming a model of 
piety and humility, and of all those virtues which neces- 
sarily spring from such principles. This is an unanswer- 
able proof, that whenever men abandon themselves to 
impiety, infidelity, and profligacy, the fault is not in the 
situation, but in the heart ; and that there is no mode of 
life, no employment or profession, which may not, if we 
please, be made consistent with a sincere belief in the 
Gospel, and with the practice of every duty we owe to 
our Maker, our Redeemer, our fellow- creatures, and 
ourselves. 

Nor is this the only instance in point ; for it is ex- 
tremely remarkable, and well worthy our attention, that 
among all the various characters we meet with in the 
New Testament, there are few represented in a more 
amiable light, or spoken of in stronger terms of appro- 
bation, than those of certain military men. Beside the 
centurion, who is the subject of this Lecture, it was a 
centurion, who, at our Saviour's crucifixion, gave that 
voluntary, honest, and unprejudiced testimony in his 
favour, " Truly this was the Son of God*." It was a 
centurion, who generously preserved the life of St. Paul, 
when a proposition was made to destroy him after his 
shipwreck on the island of Melitat. It was a centurion 
to whom St. Peter was sent by the express appointment 
of God, to make him the first convert among the Gentiles ; 
a distinction of which he seemed, in every respect* 

"* Matt, xxvii, 54. t Acts xxvii, 43. 



MATTHEW VIII. 107 

worthy : being, as we are told, " a just and a devout 
man, one that feared God with all his house, that gave 
much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway *.'* 

We see, then, that our centurion was not the only mi- 
litary man celebrated in the Gospel for his piety and 
virtue ; nor are there wanting, thank God, distinguished 
instances of the same kind in our own age, in our own 
nation, among our own commanders, and in the recent 
memory of every one here present. All which examples 
tend to confirm the observation already made, of the 
perfect consistency of a military, and every other mode 
of life, with a firm belief in the doctrines and a con- 
scientious obedience to the precepts of religion. 

Thirdly, there is still another reflection arising from 
this circumstance, with which I shall conclude the pre- 
sent Lecture ; and this is, that when we observe men 
bred up in arms repeatedly spoken of in Scripture in 
such strong terms of commendation as those we have 
mentioned, we are authorized to conclude, that the pro- 
fession they are engaged in is not, as a mistaken sect of 
Christians amongst us professes to think, an unlawful 
one. On the contrary, *it seems to be studiously placed 
by the sacred writers in a favourable and an honourable 
light ; and in this light it always has been and always 
ought to be considered. He, who undertakes an occu- 
pation of great toil and great danger, for the purpose 
of serving, defending, and protecting his country, is a 
most valuable and respectable member of society ; and 
if he conducts himself with valour, fidelity, and huma- 
nity, and amidst the horrors of war cultivates the gentle 
manners of peace, and the virtues of a devout and holy 
life, he most amply deserves, and will assuredly receive, 
the esteem, the admiration, and the applause of his 
grateful country, and, what is of still greater importance, 
the approbation of his God. 

* Acts x, 2. 



LECTURE IX 



MATTHEW X. 

I now proceed to the consideration of the tenth chapter 
of St. Matthew. 

In the preceding chapter we find our Saviour working 
a great variety of miracles. He healed the man that was 
sick of the palsy, and forgave his sins ; a plain proof of 
his divinity, because none but God has the power and 
the prerogative of forgiving sins : and therefore the Jews 
accused him of blasphemy for pretending to this power. 
He also cured the woman who touched the hem of his 
garment. He raised to life the deceased daughter of the 
ruler of the synagogue. He restored to sight the two 
blind men that followed him ; and he cast out from a 
dumb man the devil with which he was possessed, and 
restored him to his speech. These miracles are particu- 
larly recorded : but, beside these, there must have been 
a prodigious number wrought by him, of which no dis- 
tinct mention is made ; for we are informed, in the thiity- 
iifth verse, that he went about all the cities and villages, 
teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel 
of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every 
disease among the people. 

These continued miracles must necessarily have pro- 
duced a great number of converts. And accordingly we 
find, the multitude of his followers was now so great, 
that he found it necessary to appoint some coadjutors to 
himself in this great work. " The harvest truly is plen- 
teous," says he to his disciples, " but the labourers are 
few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he 
would send forth labourers into his harvest *•" 

* Matt, ix, 37, 38. 



MATTHEW X. 109 

These labourers he now determined to send forth ; and 
in pursuance of this resolution we find him, in the be- 
ginning of this chapter, calling together his disciples, 
out of whom he selected twelve, called by St. Matthew 
apostles, or messengers; whom he sent forth to preach 
the Gospel, and furnished them with ample powers for 
that purpose ; powers such as nothing less than omnipo- 
tence could bestow. The names of these apostles were 
as follow : Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bar- 
tholomew, Thomas, Matthew, another James, Thaddeus 
or Jude, Simon, Judas Iscariot. These twelve persons, 
St. Matthew tells us, Jesus sent forth, and commanded 
them, saying, " Go not into the way of the Gentiles, 
and into any cities of the Samaritans enter ye not ; but 
go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel : and 
as ye go preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at 
hand*.'' This was the business which they were sent 
to accomplish ; they were to go about the country of 
Judasa, and to preach to the Jews, in the first place, the 
holy religion, which their Divine Master had just began 
to teach. Then follow their powers; "heal the sick, 
cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils." 

After this come their instructions, and a variety of di- 
rections how to conduct themselves in the discharge of 
their arduous and important mission, of which I shall 
take notice hereafter ; but must first offer to your con- 
sideration a few remarks on this extraordinary designa- 
tion of the apostles to their important office. 

And, in the first place, who were the men singled out 
by our blessed Lord for the purpose of diffusing his re- 
ligion through the world ; that is, for the very singular 
purpose of persuading men to relinquish the religion of 
their ancestors, the principles they had imbibed from 
their infancy, the customs, the prejudices, the habits, 
the ways of thinking, which they had for a long course 
of years indulged, and to adopt in their room a system 
of thinking and acting in many respects directly opposite 
to them ; a religion exposing them to many present hard- 
ships and severe trials, and referring them for their re- 
ward to a distant period of time, and an invisible world? 
Was it to be expected, that such a change as this, such 
a sudden and violent revolution in the minds of men, 

* Matt, x, 2, 3. 



110 LECTURE IX. 

could be brought about by common and ordinary instru- 
ments 1 Would it not require agents of a very superior 
order, of considerable influence from their birth, and 
wealth, and situation in life ; men of the profoundest 
erudition, of the brightest talents, of the most consum- 
mate knowledge of the world and the human heart, of 
the most insinuating manners, of the most commanding 
and fascinating eloquence 1 Were, then, the apostles of 
this description 1 Quite the contrary. They were plain, 
humble, unpretending men, of low birth and low occu- 
pations, without learning, without education, without 
any extraordinary endowments natural or acquired, with- 
out any thing, in short, to recommend them but their 
simplicity, integrity, and purity of manners. With what 
hopes of success could men such as these set about the 
most difficult of all enterprises, the reformation of a cor- 
rupt world, and the conversion of it to a new faith ? Yet 
we all know, that they actually did accomplish these 
two most arduous things ; and that, on the foundations 
they laid, the whole superstructure of the Christian 
church has been raised, and the divine truths of the 
Gospel spread through all parts of the civilized world. 
How, then, is this to be accounted for I It is utterly im- 
possible to account for it in any way, but that which 
Christ himself points out, in this very charge to his apos- 
tles : " Heal the sick," says he to them, in the eighth 
verse, " cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out 
devils." Here is the explanation of the whole mystery. 
It was the powers with which they were invested, the 
miracles they were enabled to perform, which procured 
such multitudes of converts. The people saw that God 
was with them, and that, therefore, every thing they 
taught must be true. 

Here is at once a sufficient cause assigned for the ef- 
fect produced by agents, apparently so unequal to the 
production of it. We challenge all the infidels in the 
world to assign any other adequate cause. They have 
never yet done it ; and we assert with confidence, that 
they never can. 

These, then, were the powers the apostles carried 
along with them ; and where shall we find the sovereign 
that could ever furnish his ambassadors with such quali- 
fications as these ? If they were asked with what au- 
thority they were invested, and what proofs they could 



MATTHEW X. Ill 

give, that they were actually commissioned to instruct 
mankind in the principles of true religion, by that great 
personage, the Son of God, whose servants and ministers 
they pretended to be, their answer was short and de- 
cisive ; Bring us your sick, and we will heal them ; show 
us your lepers, and we will cleanse them ; produce your 
dead, and we will restore them to life. It would not 
be very easy to dispute the authenticity of such cre- 
dentials as these. 

It is farther to be observed on this head, that the cir- 
cumstance of our Saviour not only working miracles 
himself, but also enabling others to perform them, is an 
instance of divine power, to which no other prophet or 
teacher before him, true or false, ever pretended. In 
this, as in many other respects, he stands unrivalled and 
alone. 

After this follow some directions, no less singular and 
new. " Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in 
your purses ; nor scrip for your journey ; neither two 
coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves*." 

That is, they were to take a long journey, without 
making any other provision for it than the staff in their 
hand, and the clothes they had on ; for, says Jesus, 
" the workman is worthy of his meat ;" an intimation, 
that the providence of God would watch over and sup- 
ply their wants. This required some confidence in their 
Master ; and unless they had good grounds for thinking, 
that it was in his power to engage Providence on their 
side (or, in other words, that he was actually the Son of 
God), they would scarce have run the risk of so un- 
promising an expedition. But this conclusion grows in- 
finitely stronger, when we come to the declaration in the 
next and following verses : " Behold, I send you forth 
as sheep in the midst of wolves ; be ye, therefore, wise 
as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men ; 
for they will deliver you up to the councils ; and they 
will scourge you in the synagogues ; and ye shall be 
brought before governors and kings for my name's sake, 
for a testimony against them and the Gentiles ; and the 
brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the 
father the child ; and the children shall rise up against 
their parents, and cause them to be put to death ; and 
ye shall be hated of all men for my name's saket." 

* Matt, x, 9, 10. t Matt.x, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22. 



112 LECTURE IX. 

What now shall we say to this extraordinary and un- 
exampled declaration 1 

When a sovereign sends his ambassadors to a foreign 
country, he makes an ample provision for their journey, 
he assigns them a liberal allowance for their support, 
and generally holds out, at the same time, the prospect 
of a future reward for their labours and their services to 
their country on their return from their embassy. And 
without this, few men would be disposed to undertake 
the commission. 

But here every thing is the reverse : instead of sup- 
port, they were to meet with persecution ; instead of an 
honourable reception, they were to experience universal 
hatred and detestation ; instead of reward, they were to 
be exposed to certain ruin and destruction, and to be let 
loose like so many sheep among wolves. 

Can we now conceive it possible, that any men, in 
their senses, should, without some very powerful and 
extraordinary motive, voluntarily undertake such a com- 
mission as this, in which their only recompense was to 
be affliction, misery, pain, and death ; in which, all the 
natural affections of the human heart were to be ex- 
tinguished or inverted, and their nearest relations, their 
parents, children, or brethren, were to be their persecu- 
tors and executioners? Is it usual for human beings 
wantonly and needlessly to expose themselves to such 
evils as these, without the least prospect of any advan- 
tage to themselves or their families? You may say, per- 
haps, that simple, ignorant, uneducated men, like the 
apostles, might easily be deluded by an artful leader, 
and betrayed into very dreadful calamities, and that we 
see multitudes thus deceived and ruined every day. It 
is true : but where, in this case, is the art of the leader, 
or the delusion of the followers 1 In the cases alluded 
to, men are induced to embark in perilous undertakings, 
and to run headlong into destruction, by fair promises 
and tempting offers, by promises of liberty, of wealth, 
of honour, of popularity, of glory. But here, instead of 
employing any art, or making any attempt to deceive his 
followers, our Saviour plainly tells them they are to ex- 
pect nothing but what is most dreadful to human nature. 
Whatever they suffered, therefore, they suffered with 
their eyes open, and with their own free choice and con- 
sent. It is true they were plain, ignorant men ; but 
they could feel pain, and they could have no more fond- 



MATTHEW X. 113 

ness for misery and death than other people. Yet this 
they did actually and cheerfully undergo at the com- 
mand of their Lord. How is this to be explained and 
accounted for 1 Is there any instance upon record be- 
fore this in the annals of the world, where twelve grave, 
sober men, without any reason, and without being mis- 
led by any artifice or delusion whatever, voluntarily ex- 
posed themselves, at the desire of another person, to per- 
secution, torment, and destruction? There must have 
been some most cogent reason for such a conduct as 
this ; and that reason could be nothing less than a full 
and perfect conviction, arising from the miracles, which 
they saw with their own eyes, and which they them- 
selves were enabled to perform, that Christ was what 
he pretended to be, the Son of God; that all power 
was given to him in Heaven and on Earth ; and that he 
was able to fulfil the promises he had made them of a 
recompense in a future life, infinitely surpassing in mag- 
nitude and in duration all the sufferings they could ex- 
perience in the present world. 

This is the only rational account to be given of their 
conduct ; and it presents to us, in a short compass, a 
strong, convincing evidence of the truth of the Christian 
revelation. 

In order to fortify the minds of his disciples against 
the severe trials they were to undergo, our blessed Lord, 
in the twenty-eighth verse, adds the following exhorta- 
tion : " Fear not them, which kill the body, but are not 
able to kill the soul : but rather fear him, which is able 
to destroy both soul and body in hell." 

This passage contains a decisive proof of two very im- 
portant doctrines, the existence of a soul distinct from 
the body, and the continuance of that soul after death 
(both of which, in direct opposition to this and many 
other passages of Scripture, some late writers have dared 
to controvert) ; and it plainly refers the apostles to the 
consideration of a future life, in which all their views, 
their hopes, and fears, were to centre, and by which 
their conduct in this world was entirely to be regulated. 
The worst their enemies could do to them in this life 
was to kill the body, which must some time or other be 
destroyed by age or disease. But God was able to kill 
the soul, which was formed for immortality ; to annihi- 
late it at once, or to condemn it to everlasting punish- 
ment. It was, therefore, of infinitelv more consequence 

13 



114 LECTURE IX. 

to avoid his displeasure, and to secure his approbation 
by performing their duty, than, by shamefully deserting 
it, to escape the infliction of the bitterest evils, that their 
fellow-creatures could bring upon them. 

In conformity to this advice, he tells them, " that he 
that endureth to the end shall be saved ; and that he, 
who loses his life for his sake in this world, shall find it, 
in a far more exalted sense, in the next*." 

This was solid comfort and substantial support. But 
unless our Lord had given them irresistible miraculous 
evidence of the reality of this future reward, unless they 
had absolute demonstration of its certainty, it was ut- 
terly impossible, that they could be so mad as to sacri- 
fice to this expectation every thing most valuable in this 
life, and even life itself. 

As a still farther support under the terrifying prospect, 
which our blessed Lord had held up to the apostles, he 
assures them, that the providence of God would con- 
tinually superintend and watch over them. 

" Are not two sparrows," says he, " sold for a far- 
thing 1 and one of them shall not fall to the ground with- 
out your Father ; but the very hairs of your head are all 
numbered. Fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more value 
than many sparrows t." 

Here we have that most important and comfortable 
doctrine of a particular providence plainly and clearly 
laid down. 

That he, who erected the immense and magnificent 
fabric of the universe, will continue to regard and to pre- 
serve the work of his own hands, and maintain what is 
called the general order of nature, and the ordinary 
course of human affairs, is so consonant to reason and 
common sense, that few, even of the pagans, who be- 
lieved the being of a God, entertained any doubt of this 
general superintendence of the Deity over the worlds 
he has created, and the inhabitants he has placed 
in them. But when we descend from this comprehen- 
sive view of things to the several constituent parts of the 
general system, and to every individual of every species 
of animated beings dispersed throughout the whole ; 
when we reflect how very inconsiderable a place this 
globe, that we inhabit, holds amongst the celestial bo- 
dies, how very small a portion it occupies of unbounded 

* Matt, x, 22, '69. t Matt, x, 20, 30, 31. 



MATTHEW X. 115 

space, and how infinitely minute and insignificant every 
human creature must appear in the vast mass of created 
beings ; we can hardly think it possible, that the care of 
the Supreme Being should extend to ourselves ; we can- 
not help fearing, that we shall be lost and overlooked in 
the immensity of creation, and that we are objects far 
too small and minute to fall within the sphere of our 
Maker's observation* The more we reason on this sub- 
ject, the more ground we shall find for these apprehen- 
sions ; and there is nothing, I will venture to say, in the 
whole compass of what is called natural religion, or mo- 
dern philosophy, that can, in the smallest degree, tend 
to allay or to remove these natural, these unavoidable 
misgivings of the human mind. 

Here, then, is one of those many instances in which 
we can have no certainty, no solid ground for the sole of 
our foot to stand upon, but in the Gospel of Christ. Our 
reason, though sent out ever so often in search of a rest- 
ing-place, returns to us, like Noah's dove, when the 
waters covered the Earth, without any token of comfort. 
It is Scripture only, which in this important point can 
give rest unto our souls. There we are assured, that 
every individual being, even the least and most con- 
temptible, even the sparrow, that is sold for less than a 
farthing, is under the eye of the Almighty ; that, so far 
from man being too inconsiderable for the notice of his 
Maker, the minutest parts of his body, the very hairs of 
his head, are all numbered. These very strong instances 
are plainly chosen on purpose to quiet all our fears, and 
to banish from our minds every idea of our being too 
small and insignificant for the care and protection of the 
Almighty. 

This most consolatory doctrine of a particular provi- 
dence, of a providence which watches over every indi- 
vidual of the human race, places the Christian in a situa- 
tion totally different from that of every one, who disbe- 
lieves revelation. The latter must conceive himself un- 
der no other government, but that of chance or fortune, 
and of course must consider the whole happiness of his 
life as exposed every moment to the mercy of the next 
accident, that may befal him. The true believer, on 
the contrary, has the most perfect conviction, that he is 
constantly under the protection of an almighty and mer- 
ciful God, in whom he lives, and moves, and has his 
being ; " whose eyes are over the righteous, and whose 



116 LECTURE IX. 

ears are open to their prayers ; " that, therefore, if he 
lives so as to merit the approbation of his heavenly 
Father, he has every reason to hope for such a degree of 
happiness, even here, as the imperfection of human na- 
ture will admit ; and he is certain, that nothing dreadful 
can befal him without the knowledge and permission of 
his great protector, who will, even in that case, support 
him under it, and render it ultimately conducive to his 
good. 

The next passage, in this chapter, to which I shall di- 
rect your attention, is that very remarkable one, which 
has furnished the enemies of Christianity with so much 
pretence for obloquy and invective against the Gospel, 
and has been the source of no small uneasiness and dis- 
may to some of its warmest friends. The passage I 
mean is this : " Think not," says our Lord, " I am come 
to send peace on earth : I came not to send peace, but a 
sword ; for I am come to set a man at variance against 
his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the 
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's 
foes shall be those of his own household*." 

What shall we say now (exclaims the infidel) to this 
extraordinary declaration 1 Here we have the Author 
of the Christian religion himself openly and explicitly 
avowing, that he came to send a sword upon earth, to 
dissolve all the tender endearing ties of domestic affec- 
tion : to set the nearest relations at variance, and to 
arm them with inextinguishable rage and rancour against 
each other. 

But can this be really the sense of our Saviour's 
words 1 Can he mean to denounce war and destruction 
to the human species 1 He, whose whole religion breathes 
nothing but peace, gentleness, kindness, and compassion 
to every human being ; who made charity, or the love 
of man, the great characteristic mark of his religion; 
who expressly forbade his disciples " to call down fire 
from heaven " on those, who had insulted them ; who, 
in this very chapter, commanded them " to be harmless 
as doves ; and declared, that he came not to destroy 
men's lives, but to save them 1 1" It is evidently impos- 
sible, that the author of such precepts and such profes- 
sions could mean literally to spread ruin and desolation 
over the earth. What then was his meaning 1 It was 

* Matt, x, 34, 35, 36. t Matt, x, 16 j Luke ix, 56. 



MATTHEW X. 117 

to obviate an error into which the apostles would be 
very apt to fall, and which probably our Saviour saw 
rising in their minds. You tell us (they perhaps said 
within themselves), you tell us that we shall be persecuted, 
tormented, and put to death, and that even by those who 
are most nearly connected with us. But how is this pos- 
sible 1 How can all this happen under your protection, 
under the reign of the Messiah, the Prince of Peace, 
under whom we have always been given to expect tran- 
quillity, repose, and happiness 1 To this supposed rea- 
soning our Saviour answers : You are mistaken in your 
idea of that peace, which I, your Messiah, am to give 
you. It is not immediate temporal peace, but peace in 
a spiritual sense, peace in your own minds, and peace 
with God. Ultimately, indeed, I shall establish peace in 
every sense of the word, and " shall make wars to cease 
in all the world* '," but at present, and indeed for many 
years to come, I shall not bring peace but a sword upon 
earth. The promulgation of my religion will be pro- 
ductive of much dissension, cruelty, and persecution, 
not only to you, but to all those who for many ages 
afterwards shall preach the Gospel in purity and truth. 
The true cause of this will be the wickedness and the 
ferocious passions of men ; but the occasion and the pre- 
tence for it will be the holy religion which you are to 
promulgate. In this sense, and in this only, it is, that I 
may be said to bring a sword upon earth ; but they, who 
really bring it, are the open enemies or pretended friends 
of the Gospel. 

Still it is said by the adversaries of our faith, that, 
however these words may be interpreted, the fact is, 
that Christians themselves have brought a sword, and a 
most destructive sword, upon earth : that they have per- 
secuted one another with inconceivable rancour and 
fury; and that their dissensions have produced more 
bloodshed, misery, and desolation, among mankind, than 
all the other wars of contending nations put together. 

To this I answer, in the first place, that the charge, as 
here stated, is not true. It is not true, that wars of re- 
ligion have been more frequent and more sanguinary 
than- any others. On the contrary, it may be proved in 
the clearest manner, from the most authentic facts, that 

* Psalm xlvi, 9. 



118 LECTURE IX. 

by far the greatest number of wars, as well as the longest, 
most extensive, and most destructive, have been owing 
to causes purely political, and those too sometimes of 
the most trivial nature. And if we can allow men to 
harass and destroy one another for a mere point of ho- 
nour, or a few acres of land, why should we think it 
strange to see them defending, with the same heat and 
bitterness, what they conceive to be the most essential 
requisite to happiness both here and hereafter 1 

Secondly, I must observe, that a very large part of 
those animosities, wars, and massacres, which have 
been usually styled religious, and with the entire guilt 
of which Christianity has been very unjustly loaded, 
have been altogether, or at least in a great measure, 
owing to causes of a very different nature ; to the ambi- 
tion, the resentment, the avarice, the rapacity of princes 
and of conquerors, who assumed the mask of religion to 
veil their real purposes, and who pretended to fight in 
the cause of God and his church, when they had in re- 
ality nothing else in view than to advance their power or 
extend their dominions. All history is full of instances 
of this kind. 

Th^dly, It should be remembered, that the wildest 
excesses of religious persecution did not take place till 
the world was overrun with barbarity, ignorance, bigotry, 
and superstition; till military ideas predominated in 
every thing, in the form of government, in the temper of 
the laws, in the tenure of lands, in the administration of 
justice itself; and till the Scriptures were shut up in a 
foreign tongue, and were, therefore, unknown to the 
people. It was not therefore from the Gospel, but from 
a total ignorance of the Gospel, from a total perversion 
of its true temper, genius, and spirit, that these ex- 
cesses and enormities arose. 

Fourthly, That this is the real truth of the case, ap- 
pears demonstrably from this circumstance, that when, 
after the Reformation, the Scriptures were translated into 
the several vernacular languages of Europe, and the real 
nature of the Christian revelation became of course 
more generally known, the violence of persecution began 
to abate ; and as the sacred writings were more and more 
studied, and their true sense better understood, the 
baneful spirit of intolerance lost ground every day, and 
the divine principle of Christian charity and benevolence 



MATTHEW X. 119 

has been continually gaining fresh strength ; till at length, 
at the present moment, persecution by Christians, on the 
score of religion only, has almost ■ entirely vanished from 
the face of the earth ; and we may venture to indulge the 
hope, that wars of religion, strictly so called, will be 
heard of no more. 

I now proceed to explain the verses immediately fol- 
lowing that which we have been just considering. 

"I am come," says our Lord, "to set a man at 
variance against his father, and the daughter against her 
mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother- 
in-law, and a man's foes shall be those of his own house- 
hold.;' 

This passage is a clear proof, that the calamities and 
miseries predicted in the preceding verse relate pri- 
marily and principally to the apostles themselves, be- 
cause these words are almost a repetition of what our Lord 
applied to them in the twenty-seventh verse, " The bro- 
ther shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father 
the child ; and the children shall rise up against their 
parents, and cause them to be put to death *" 

Now, as these cruelties were inflicted on the apostles, 
not by believers, but by unbelieving Jews and heathens, 
that is, by the enemies of the Gospel, it is evident, that 
when our Saviour says he came to set a man at variance 
against his father, and so on, he meant only to say, that 
the religion which he taught would meet with the most 
violent opposition from the world, and would expose 
his apostles and disciples to the most unjust and inhu- 
man treatment, even sometimes from their nearest re- 
lations. 

Our Lord then goes on to say, " He that loveth father 
and mother more than me, is not worthy of me U" This 
has an evident reference to the two preceding verses ; in 
which our Lord had declared, that, amidst the various 
miseries that would be occasioned by the wickedness 
and barbarity of those who rejected and resisted the 
Christian religion, dissensions would arise even among 
those most nearly connected with each other, and the 
true Christian would sometimes find his bitterest ene- 
mies even in the bosom of his own family. A father 
would perhaps persecute his own son, and a mother her 

* Matt, x, 21. t Matt, x, 37. 



120 LECTURE IX. 

daughter, on account of her religious opinions, and 
would by argument and by influence endeavour to per- 
suade, or by authority and power to compel them to ab- 
jure their faith. In cases such as these our Lord here 
intimates, that when the choice is between renouncing 
our nearest relations and renouncing our religion, we 
must not hesitate a moment what part we are to take ; 
we must, to obey God rather than man, we must give up 
all, and follow Christ. "He that loveth father and 
mother more than me, is not worthy of me ; and he that 
loveth son and daughter more than me, is not worthy of 
me*." That is, evidently, when the nearest and dearest 
relations come in competition with our belief in Christ, 
and obedience to his commands, our affection for them 
and deference to their opinions must give place to love 
for our Redeemer and attachment to our Maker. 

In the parallel place of St. Luke, this precept is ex- 
pressed in still stronger terms: "If any man come to 
me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife and 
children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life 
also, he cannot be my disciple t." 

The mind of the reader is at the first view apt to re- 
volt at the seeming harshness of this declaration ; but it 
is evidently nothing more than a bolder and more figura- 
tive way (according to a well-known Hebrew idiom) of 
conveying the very same sentiment that St. Matthew 
clothes in gentler language. It means nothing more than 
that we ought to entertain a more ardent affection for our 
heavenly Father than for our earthly parents ; and that 
his commands must be preferred to theirs, whenever they 
happen to interfere. And in the same manner several 
other apparently severe injunctions in the Gospel are to 
be explained and mitigated by others of the same import, 
but more perspicuously and more mildly expressed. 

Rut we are not only enjoined to love Christ and his 
religion more than our nearest relations, where they 
happen to interfere, but even more than our own life* 
" He that taketh not his cross and followeth after me, is 
not worthy of met." This plainly alludes to the custom 
of persons who are going to be crucified bearing their 
own cross ; and the literal and primary meaning is, that 
we should be ready, if called upon, to undergo even that 

* Acts v, 29 ; Mark x, 28. t Luke xiv, 2(5. t Matt, x, 38. 



MATTHEW X. 121 

painful and ignominious death, rather than renounce our 
faith. This, indeed, is a most severe trial ; but it is a 
trial, which it is not only our duty but our interest to 
undergo, if reduced to the necessity either of forfeiting 
our life, or renouncing our allegiance to Christ. For we 
are told here by our Lord himself, that, " he who fmdeth 
his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for his 
sake shall find it*." That is, whoever, to save his life, 
apostatizes from his faith, shall be punished with the 
loss of that life which alone deserves the name, life 
everlasting. But he, who sacrifices his life to his re- 
ligion in this world, shall be rewarded with eternal life 
in the world to come. 

* Matt, x, 39. 



M 



LECTURE X. 



MATTHEW XII. 

The next chapter, which seems more peculiarly to deserve 
our attention, and to require some explanation and illus- 
tration, is the twelfth chapter of St. Matthew. 

It begins thus : "At that time Jesus went on the 
sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were 
an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and 
to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto 
him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to 
do on the sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have ye 
not read what David did when he was an hungred, and 
they that were with him ; how he entered into the house of 
God, and did eat the show-bread, which it was not 
lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with 
him, but only for the priests ! Or have ye not read in 
the law, how that on the sabbath day the priests in the 
temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless ? But I 
say unto you, that in this place is one greater than the 
temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will 
have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have con- 
demned the guiltless ; for the Son of man is Lord even 
of the sabbath day. And when he was departed thence, 
he went into the synagogue. And there was a man 
which had his hand withered; and they asked him, 
saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day 1 that they 
might accuse him. And he said unto them, What man 
shall there be among you that shall have one sheep, and 
if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay 
hold on it, and lift it out? How much, then, is a man 
better than a sheep. Wherefore, it is lawful to do well 
on the sabbath day. Then saith he to the man, Stretch 
forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth, and it was 
restored whole, like as the other." 



MATTHEW XII. 123 

Although here are two different transactions related, 
that of plucking the ears of corn, and healing the with- 
ered hand, yet as they are closely connected together by 
the evangelist, and relate to the same subject, the ob- 
servation of the sabbath, I have recited the whole pas- 
sage comprehending both these incidents at length, that 
you might have before you at one view all that our 
Saviour has said on this important branch of our duty, 
and that we might fully understand what kind of res! it 
is that our blessed Lord judged to be necessary on the 
Jewish sabbath, and what limitations and exceptions to 
it he admitted ) from whence we may form some judg- 
ment of what our own duty is on that holy day, which we 
justly call the Lord's Day, and which must be consi- 
dered as the Christian sabbath. 

From this passage, as well as from many others, it ap- 
pears, that the Jews had their eyes constantly fixed on 
Jesus and his followers, and most anxiously sought out 
for opportunities of fastening some guilt upon them. It 
appears, also, that they were extremely unfortunate in 
these attempts, and compelled (as in the present in- 
stance) to have recourse to the silliest and most trivial 
charges ; and even these turned out to be perfectly un- 
founded. From whence I think we may fairly draw this 
inference, that the character and conduct of our Lord 
and his disciples were perfectly blameless ; since, with 
all the industry of so many sharp-sighted observers, so 
extremely well disposed to discover guilt or to make it, 
they could find no real fault in him. 

The pretence on this occasion was, that the disciples, 
by plucking a few ears of corn, and eating them as they 
passed through a corn-field on the sabbath day, had 
violated the rest of that holy day, and thus transgressed 
the Mosaical law. But to this oar Lord replied, that in 
cases of extreme necessity the severity of that law might 
be dispensed with and relaxed. As a proof of this, he 
appealed first to the example of David, the man after 
God's own heart, who (as may be seen in 1 Samuel xxi, 
6), when he and his men were reduced to great straits 
for want of food, asked and obtained from Abimelech 
the priest a part of the consecrated bread which had 
been taken from the altar, and which it was not lawful 
for any but the priests to eat. The other instance he 
adduced was that of the priests themselves, who in the 
necessary service of the temple on the sabbath day were 



124 LECTURE X. 

obliged to work with their own hands, by lighting the 
fires, killing the victims, offering up the sacrifices, &c. 
This in any other persons would have been considered as 
profanations of the sabbath ; but in the priests, who were 
engaged in the duties of religion, it was not. 

These arguments addressed to a Jew were in themselves 
unanswerable ; because they appealed to the practice of 
persons whom the Jews held sacred, and whose conduct 
they durst not condemn. But they went still farther 
than this ; they went to establish this general principle, 
that there might be obligations of a force superior even 
to the law of Moses, and to which it ought in certain 
cases to give way ; as, in the first instance, to the press- 
ing demands of necessity, in the other, to the services of 
the temple. 

If, then, in these cases the law might be dispensed 
with, still more might it be overruled by a power pa- 
ramount to every other power, by him, who was far 
greater and holier than the temple itself, who was 
" lord even of the sabbath," who was indeed supreme 
Lord over all, and might therefore authorize his disci- 
ples, in a case of real urgency, to depart a little from 
the rigour of the sabbatical rest. 

It should be observed here, that where St. Matthew 
says, " the Son of man is lord even of the sabbath 
day ; " St. Mark, in the parallel place, expresses himself 
thus : " The sabbath was made for man, and not man 
for the sabbath." That is, the sabbath was given to 
man for his benefit, for the improvement of his soul, as 
well as for the rest of his body ; and the latter, when 
necessary, must be sacrificed to the former. For man 
was not made for the sabbath ; was not made to be a 
slave to it, to be so servilely bound down to the strict Pha- 
risaical observance of it, as to lose, by that rigorous ad- 
herence to the letter, opportunities of doing essential 
service to himself and his fellow-creatures. 

To this irresistible force of reasoning our blessed Lord 
adds another argument of considerable weight : " If ye 
had known," says he, " what this meaneth, I will have 
mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned 
the guiltless." The quotation is from the prophet Hosea ; 
the words are supposed to be those of God himself; and 
the meaning is, according to a well-known Jewish idiom, 
I prefer mercy to sacrifice : that is, when any ceremonial 
institution interferes with the execution of any charitable 



MATTHEW XII. 125 

or pious design, the former must give place to the latter ; 
as in the present instance, a strict observance of the sab- 
bath must not be suffered to deprive my disciples of that 
refreshment which is necessary to support them under 
the fatigue of following me, and dispensing to mankind 
the blessings of the Gospel. We see, then, with what 
superstitious rigour the Jews adhered to the letter of 
their law, respecting the Jewish sabbath ; and with what 
superior wisdom and dignity our Lord endeavoured to 
raise their minds above such trivial things to the true 
spirit of it, to the life and soul of religion. 

The fault, however, here reproved and corrected, is not 
one into which we of this country are likely to fall, nor 
is there any need to warn us against imitating the Jews 
in this instance. There is no danger that we should carry 
the observance of our sabbath too far, or that we should 
be too scrupulously nice in avoiding every the minutest 
infringment of the rest and sanctity of that holy day. The 
bent and tendency of the present times is too evidently 
to a contrary extreme, to an excessive relaxation instead 
of an excessive strictness in the regard shown to the Lord's 
day. I am not now speaking of the religious duties ap- 
propriated to the Lord's day, for these are not now be- 
fore us, but solely of the rest, the impose which it requires. 
This rest is plainly infringed, whenever the lower classes 
of people continue their ordinary occupations on the sab- 
bath, and whenever the higher employ their servants and 
their cattle on this day in needless labour. This, how- 
ever, we see too frequently done, more particularly by 
selecting Sunday as a day for travelling, for taking long 
journies, which might as well be performed at any other 
time. This is a direct violation of the fourth command- 
ment, which expressly gives the sabbath as a day of rest 
to our servants and our cattle. 

This temporary suspension of labour, this refreshment 
and relief from incessant toil, is most graciously allowed, 
even to the brute creation, by the great Governor of the 
universe, whose mercy extends over all his works. It is 
the boon of Heaven itself. It is a small drop of comfort 
thrown into their cup of misery ; and to wrest from them 
this only privilege, this sweetest consolation of their 
wretched existence, is a degree of inhumanity for which 
there wants a name; and of which few people, I am 
persuaded, if they could be brought to reflect seriously 
upon it, would ever be guilty. 

M3 



126 LECTURE X. 

These profanations of the sabbath are however some- 
times defended, on the ground of the very passage we 
have been just considering. It is alleged, that as our 
Lord here reproves the Jews for too rigorous an atten- 
tion to the rest of the sabbath, it conveys an intimation, 
that we ought not to be too exact and scrupulous in that 
respect ; and that many things may in fact be allowable, 
which timid minds may consider as unlawful. Butitshould 
be observed, that Jesus condemns nothing in the conduct 
of the Jews but what was plainly absurd and supersti- 
tious ; and he allows of no exceptions to that rest from 
labour which they observed on the sabbath, except simply 
works of necessity and charity ; such, for instance, as those 
very cases which gave occasion to the conversation in this 
chapter between Christ and the Jews, that of the disci- 
ples plucking the ears of corn on the sabbath day to sa- 
tisfy their hunger, and that of our Saviour's restoring the 
withered hand. It is lawful, in short, as our Saviour ex- 
presses it, to do well on the sabbath day ; to preserve our- 
selves, and to benefit our fellow-creatures. Thus far, then, 
we may go, but no farther. In other respects, the rest of 
the Lord's day is to be observed : and those very excep- 
tions which our Saviour makes are a proof, that in every 
other case he approves and sanctions the duty of resting 
on the sabbath day. It is also remarkable, that our own 
laws, grounding themselves no doubt on this declaration 
of Christ, make the same exceptions to the rest of the 
sabbath that he does ; they allow works of necessity and 
charity, but no others*. To these therefore we ought to 
confine ourselves as nearly as may be ; and with these 
exceptions, and these only, consecrate the sabbath as a 
" holy rest unto the Lord." 

This rest the Almighty enjoined, not, as is sometimes 
pretended, to the Jews only, but to all mankind. For 
even immediately after the great work of creation was 
finished, we are told, " that God ended his work that he 
had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all 
the work which he had made ; and God blessed the 
seventh day, and sanctified it ; because that in it he had 
rested from all his work which God created and made t." 
It is evident, therefore, that the seventh day was to be a 
day of rest to all mankind, in memory of God having on 
that day finished his great work of creation ; and this 

* See the Statute of 29 Charles II, cap. vii. t Gen. ii, 2, 3. 



MATTHEW XII. 127 

seventh day, after our Lord's resurrection, was changed 
by his apostles to the first day of the week, on which 
our Lord rose from the dead, and rested from his labours ; 
so that the rest of this day is now commemorative of 
both these important events, the creation and the resur- 
rection. 

I now proceed to consider the consequence of this 
conversation between our Lord and the Pharisees on the 
subject of the sabbath. One should have expected, that 
so wise and rational an explanation of the law respecting 
that day, releasing men from the senseless severities im- 
posed upon them by the servile fears of superstition, but 
at the same time requiring all that respite from labour 
which is really conducive to the glory of God and hap- 
piness of man ; one should have expected, I say, that 
such wisdom and such benevolence as this would have 
triumphed over even pharisaical obstinacy, and extorted 
the admiration and applause of his hearers. But stub- 
born prejudices, and deep-rooted malignity, are not so 
easily subdued. For see what actually followed. " The 
pharisees went out," says the evangelist, " and held a 
council how they might destroy him." Destroy him ! 
for what? Why, for giving ease to timid minds and 
scrupulous consciences, and for restoring the withered 
hand of a poor decrepit man. And were these deeds 
that deserved destruction? Would it not rather have 
been the just reward of those inhuman wretches, who 
were capable of conceiving so execrable a project ; and 
would not our Saviour have been justified in calling 
down fire from heaven, as he easily might, to consume 
them ? But his heart abhorred the thought. He pursued 
a directly opposite conduct ; and instead of inflicting 
upon them a punishment which might have destroyed 
them, he chose to set them an example that might 
amend them. He chose to show them the difference be- 
tween their temper and his own, between those malig- 
nant, vindictive passions which governed them, and the 
mild, gentle, conciliating disposition which his religion 
inspired ; between the spirit of the world, in short, and 
the spirit of the Gospel. He withdrew himself silently 
and quietly from them ; and great multitudes followed 
him, and he healed them all ; and, to avoid all irritation 
and all contest, he charged them that they should not 
make him known. " Thus was fulfilled/' says the evan- 
gelist, " that which was spoken by Esaias the prophet. 



128 LECTURE X. 

saying, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen 3 my 
beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put 
my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the 
Gentiles. He shall not strive nor cry ; neither shall any 
man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall 
he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till 
he send forth judgment unto victory*." A most sub- 
lime passage ! which may thus be paraphrased. Behold 
my servant, whom I have chosen ; my beloved, in whom 
my soul is well pleased ! I will put my spirit upon him, 
and he shall teach true religion, not only to the people 
of Israel, but to the heathens also ; and this he shall do 
with the utmost tenderness, mildness, and meekness, 
without contention and noise, without tumult and dis- 
turbance. A bruised reed shall he not break ; he shall 
not bear hard upon a wounded and contrite, and truly 
humble and penitent heart, bowed down with a sense 
of its infirmities. And smoking flax shall he not quench ; 
the faintest spark of returning virtue he will not extin- 
guish by severity ; but will cherish and encourage the 
one, and will raise, and animate, and enliven the other ; 
till by these gentle conciliating means he shall have tri- 
umphed over the wickedness and malevolence of his 
enemies, and completely established his religion through- 
out the world. What an amiable picture is here given 
us of the Divine Author of our faith 1 and how exactly 
does this prophetic description correspond to the whole 
tenour of his conduct in the propagation of his religion. 

The next remarkable occurrences, which present them- 
selves in this chapter, are those of our Saviour casting a 
devil out of a man that was both blind and dumb ; the 
reflections which the Pharisees threw upon him in con- 
sequence of this miracle, and the effectual manner in 
which he silenced them, and repelled their calumny. 

The passage is as follows: "Then was brought unto 
him one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb : and he 
healed him ; insomuch that the blind and dumb both 
spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and 
said, Is not this the son of David ? But when the Pha- 
risees heard it they said, This fellow doth not cast out 
devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. And 
Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every 
kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, 

* Isaiah xlii, 1—3. 



MATTHEW XII. 129 

and every city or house divided against itself shall not 
stand : and if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against 
himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?" 

This passage affords room for a variety of observa- 
tion. 

In the first place, it is evident from this, as well as 
from many other passages of holy writ, that, at the time 
when our Saviour promulgated his religion, there was a 
calamity incident to the human race, of which at present 
we know nothing, and that is, the possession of their 
bodies by evil spirits, or devils (as they are usually called 
in Scripture), which occasioned gTeat torments to the 
unhappy sufferers, and often deprived them both of their 
sight and hearing, as in the present instance. Such pos- 
sessions having long since ceased, they have appeared to 
several learned men so incredible, that they have been 
led to deny that they ever existed, and to maintain, that 
they were only diseases of a violent and terrifying na- 
ture, attended with convulsive or epileptic fits ; that this 
sort of disease was ascribed by the Jews to the operation 
of evil spirits ; and that our Saviour, in compliance with 
their prejudices, treated them as cases of real posses- 
sion, and pretended to cast out devils, when in fact he 
only cured the disorder with which the patient was 
afHicted. ; 

This opinion is supported by great names ; but, how- 
ever great and respectable they may be, it appears to me 
utterly indefensible. 

Every expression that our Lord makes use of, with 
respect to these demoniacs, plainly supposes them to be 
really possessed ; and it is not easy to assign any admis- 
sible reason why he should treat them as such if they 
were not so, and why he should not correct instead of 
countenancing so gross an error ; as such a conduct could 
answer no one good purpose, and seems hard to recon- 
cile with his own uniform fairness and sincerity of mind. 
To have done it to magnify his own power in casting out 
the evil spirits would have been, to all appearance, a 
very needless expedient ; because the immediate removal 
of a natural disease (if it were one) would have been 
an equal proof of his divine power. But, besides this, 
there is everywhere a plain distinction made between 
common diseases and demoniacal possessions, which 
shows, that they were totally different things. In the 
fourth chapter of this Gospel, where the very first men- 



130 LECTURE X. 

tion is made of these possessions, it is said, that our 
Lord's fame went throughout all Syria, and they brought 
unto him all sick people, that were taken with divers 
diseases and torments, and those which were possessed 
with devils, and he healed them. Here you see those 
that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and 
those possessed with devils, are mentioned as distinct 
and separate persons ; a plain proof that the demoniacal 
possessions were not natural diseases: and the very 
same distinction is made in several other passages of 
holy writ. 

There can be no doubt, therefore, that the demoniacs 
were persons really possessed with evil spirits : and al- 
though it may seem strange to us, yet we find from Jo- 
sephus, and other historians, that it was in those times 
no uncommon case. In fact it appears, that, about the 
time of our Lord's ministry, that tremendous spirit, Sa- 
tan, or, as he is sometimes called in Scripture, the prince 
of this world, had obtained an extraordinary degree of 
power over the human race, inflicting upon them the 
cruellest pains and torments, depriving them of their 
senses, rendering them wretched in themselves, and ter- 
rible to all around them. To subdue this formidable and 
wicked being, and to destroy him that had the power of 
death, that is, the devil, was one great object of our 
Saviour's divine mission ; and it seems to have been in- 
dispensably necessary for accomplishing the redemption 
of mankind, that the kingdom of Satan should in the 
first place be destroyed, and that the sons of men should 
be rescued from that horrible and disgraceful state of 
slavery in which he had long held them enthralled. One 
of the first steps, therefore, that our Lord took, before he 
entered on his ministry, was to establish his superiority 
over this great enemy of mankind ; which he did in that 
memorable scene of the temptation in the wilderness : 
and among the earliest of his miracles recorded is that of 
casting out devils from those who were possessed by 
them. And perhaps one reason, why these possessions 
were permitted, might be to afford our Lord an opportu- 
nity of giving the Jews a visible and ocular demonstra- 
tion of his decided superiority and sovereignty over the 
prince of the devils and all his agents, and of his power 
to subdue this great adversary of the human species. He 
appears, indeed, to have been in a state of constant hos- 
tility and warfare with this wicked spirit ; and in this 



MATTHEW XII. 131 

very passage Satan is described by our Saviour under the 
image of a strong man, whom it was necessary to bind 
before you could spoil his house, and exterminate him 
and his coadjutors, as Jesus was then doing. Yet so 
little were the Jews sensible of this enmity between 
Christ and Beelzebub, that on the contrary they charged 
them with being friends and confederates. They said, 
*' this fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, 
the prince of the devils." The answer of our Lord to 
this was decisive and satisfactory to every reasonable 
mind. '* Every kingdom divided against itself is brought 
to desolation ; and every city or house divided against 
itself shall not stand : and if Satan cast out Satan, he is 
divided against himself ; how shall then his kingdom 
stand?" His argument is this : how absurd and prepos- 
terous is it to suppose, that Satan will act against him- 
self, by expelling his own ministers and agents, whom 
he has sent to take possession of the minds and bodies of 
men, and by assisting me to establish my religion, and 
thereby diffuse virtue and happiness throughout the 
world, which it is his great object to destroy, and to in- 
troduce vice and misery in their room. This must clearly 
end in his ruin, and the overthrow of his empire over 
mankind. It is evident, then, that it is not by his assist- 
ance, but by the power of God, that I cast out devils ; 
and, if so, it is clear to demonstration, that I am com- 
missioned by Heaven to teach true religion to mankind. 

I cannot quit this subject of miracles without observ- 
ing, what a remarkable difference there is between the 
sentiments of modern infidels and those of the first ene- 
mies of the Gospel, respecting the miracles of Christ. 
The former assert, that our Saviour wrought no real mi- 
racles ; that miracles are in their own nature incredible 
and impossible ; and that no human testimony whatever 
can give credit to events so contrary to experience, and 
so repugnant to the ordinary course of nature. But go 
to those unbelievers, who lived in the earliest ages of the 
Gospel, and even to those who were eye-witnesses to our 
Lord's miracles, and they will tell you a very different 
story. They assert, that Jesus did work miracles ; they 
acknowledge, that he did expel evil spirits out of those 
that were possessed. They ascribed the miracle, indeed, 
to the power of Beelzebub, not of God ; but this we 
know to be absurdity and nonsense. The fact of the 
miraculous cure they did not dispute ; and this at once 



132 LECTURE X. 

establishes the divine mission of our Lord. To which, 
then, of these two descriptions of infidels shall we give 
most credit ; to those, who lived near eighteen hundred 
years after the miracles were performed, or to those who 
saw them wrought with their own eyes, and, though they 
detested the author of them, admitted the reality of his 
wonderful works ? 

Our Lord then, continuing his conversation with the 
Pharisees, addresses to them, in the thirty-first verse, 
these remarkable words : — 

" Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and 
blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men : but the blasphe- 
my against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto 
men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son 
of Man, it shall be forgiven him ; but whosoever speaketh 
against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, 
neither in this world, neither in the world to come." 

Our Lord's meaning, in this obscure and alarming- 
passage, seems to be this : there is no other sin or blas- 
phemy, which argues such a total depravation of mind, 
but that it may be repented of and forgiven. Even he 
that speaks against me, the Son of God, and is not con- 
vinced by my preaching, may yet be afterwards con- 
verted by the power of the Holy Ghost, by the miracles 
which he enables me and my disciples to work, and may 
obtain remission of his sin. But he, that shall obsti- 
nately resist this last method of conviction (that of mi- 
racles wrought before his eyes), and shall maliciously 
revile these most evident operations of the Spirit of God, 
contrary to the reason of his own mind and the dictates 
of his own conscience, such an one has no farther means 
left by which he may be convinced and brought to re- 
pentance, and therefore can never be forgiven. 

From this interpretation, which is, I believe, gene- 
rally admitted to be the true one, it appears, that there 
is no just ground for the apprehensions sometimes enter- 
tained by pious and scrupulous minds, that they may 
themselves be guilty of the sin here declared to be unpar- 
donable, the sin against the Holy Ghost; for we see, 
that it is confined solely and exclusively to the case 
before us, that is, to the crime of which the Pharisees 
had just been guilty, the crime of attributing those mi- 
racles to the agency of evil spirits, which were plainly 
wrought by the Spirit of God, and which they saw with 
their own eyes. 



MATTHEW XII. 133 

What confirms this interpretation is, that this crime is 
here called, not, as is generally supposed, the sin against 
the Holy Ghost, but blasphemy against the Holy Ghost; 
which evidently refers not to actions but to words ; not to 
any thing done, but to something said against the Holy 
Ghost. This being the case, it is clear, that as miracles 
have long since ceased, and this blasphemy against the 
Holy Ghost relates solely to those who saw miracles per- 
formed with their own eyes, it is impossible for any one 
in these times to be literally guilty of this impious and 
unpardonable kind of blasphemy in its full extent. 

Our Lord then addresses himself more directly to the 
authors of this spiteful calumny. " Either make the 
tree good and his fruit good, or else make the tree cor- 
rupt and his fruit corrupt ; for the tree is known by his 
fruit :" that is, Be uniform and consistent with your- 
selves. If you pretend to holiness and sincerity of heart., 
suffer not your mouths to utter these blasphemies ; or, if 
you persist in such behaviour, lay aside all claim to re- 
ligion, with which this obstinate malice is as inconsistent 
as it is for a tree not to discover its nature by the quality 
of the fruit it produces. He then adds, " O generation 
of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things t 
for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 
A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, 
bringeth forth good things ; and an evil man, out of the 
evil treasure of his heart, bringeth forth evil things." 
The import of which words is this : But it is impossible 
that you should speak otherwise than evil. You are a 
perverse and malicious generation, and the thoughts of 
men's hearts will of course show themselves by their 
words. They arise immediately from the fund within, 
and will necessarily discover whether it be good or bad. 

Then follows roiother very remarkable declaration of 
our Lord's in the thirty-sixth verse. " I say unto you, 
that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall 
give account thereof in the day of judgment." From 
hence some have imagined, that at the day of judgment 
we shall be called to an account, and punished, for 
every idle and unprofitable, every trifling and ludicrous 
word, that we have ever uttered in the gaiety of the 
heart during the whole course of our lives. If this be 
the case, how hard is it, will the enemies of the Gospel 
say, in the author of your religion, to exact from you 
^vhat is utterlv inconsistent with the infirmities of human 

N 



134 LECTURE X. 

nature, and which must completely destroy all the free- 
dom, all the ease, all the cheerfulness, all the comforts 
of social converse, and render it necessary for every man, 
that hopes to be saved, to seclude himself from society, 
and, like the once celebrated fathers of the order of 
La Trappe, impose upon themselves an everlasting 
silence ! That this must be the consequence of the sen- 
tence here pronounced by our Lord, if it is to be under- 
stood in that strict, literal, and rigorous sense, which 
has just been stated, and which at the first view the 
words seem to import, cannot be denied ; and therefore 
we may fairly conclude, that it is not the true meaning 
of the passage in question; because we know, that 
we do not serve a hard master, who requires more from 
us than our strength will bear; but one who can be 
touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and who 
has declared, that " his yoke is easy, and his burthen 
light." 

In order, then, to set this text of Scripture in its true 
light, we must look back to what had just passed : we 
must remember, that the Pharisees had a little before 
reproached our Lord with having cast out devils through 
Beelzebub the prince of the devils ; and it is this ca- 
lumny that he alludes to in the words before us; for 
they are a continuation of that very same conversation, 
which he was holding with the Jews. Now the words 
made use of by the Pharisees, in the above-mentioned 
charge, are not merely idle, or foolish, or trifling words, 
they are in the highest degree malevolent, false, and 
wicked ; they constitute one of the grossest, most detest- 
able, and most infamous calumnies, that ever was ut- 
tered by man. Consequently, by idle words our Saviour 
plainly meant false, lying, and malicious words, such as 
those which the Pharisees had a few minutes before ap- 
plied to him. 

In confirmation of this it should be observed, that the 
language then spoken by the Jews was not their primi- 
tive tongue, but one mixed and made up of the dialects 
and idioms of the several nations that surrounded them, 
particularly of the Chaldeans, Syrians, and Arabians. 
In this our Saviour delivered all his instructions, and 
held all his discourses. In this (as some learned men 
think) St. Matthew originally wrote his Gospel, for the 
use of the Jewish converts ; and it has been remarked, 
that in almost all the languages, of which this miscella- 



MATTHEW XII. 135 

neous one is made up, by idle or unprofitable words 
are meant false, lying, malicious, and scandalous ca- 
lumnies. 

But though, in the passage before us, the phrase of 
idle words refers more immediately to the malignant ca- 
lumny of the Pharisees against Jesus ; yet it certainly 
includes all false, slanderous, and vindictive accusations 
of our neighbour ; all discourse, which is in any respect 
injurious to God or man, which is contrary to truth, to 
decency, and evangelical purity of heart. All conver- 
sation of this sort is plainly inconsistent with the sanc- 
tity of our religion, and must of course subject us to 
God's displeasure here, and his judgments hereafter. 
And even in the literal and most obvious sense of idle 
words, though we are not excluded from the innocent 
cheerfulness of social converse, yet we must be aware 
of giving way too much to trifling, foolish, unprofitable, 
and unmeaning talk. Even this, when carried to excess, 
becomes in some degree criminal ; it produces, or at 
least increases, a frivolous turn of mind ; unfits us for 
the discharge of any thing manly and serious ; and indi- 
cates a degree of levity and thoughtlessness, not very 
consistent with a just sense of those important interests, 
which, as candidates for heaven, we should have con- 
stantly present to our thoughts, nor suitable to those 
awful prospects into eternity, which the Christian reve- 
lation opens to our view, and which ought to make the 
most serious impressions on every sincere believer in the 
Gospel of Christ. 



LECTURE XI. 



MATTHEW XIII. 

We are now arrived at the thirteenth chapter of St. Mat- 
thew ; in which our blessed Lord introduces a new mode 
of conveying his instructions to the people. Hitherto he 
had confined himself entirely to the plain didactic me- 
thod, of which his sermon on the mount is a large and a 
noble specimen. But his discourses now assume a dif- 
ferent shape, and he begins in this chapter, for the first 
time, to address his hearers in parables. " The same 
day," says the evangelist, "went Jesus out of the house, 
and sat by the sea-side ; and great multitudes were ga- 
thered together unto him, so that he went into a ship and 
sat ; and the whole multitude stood on the shore, and he 
spake* many things unto them in parables." 

The word parable is sometimes used in Scripture in a 
large and general sense, and applied to short sententious 
sayings, maxims, or aphorisms, expressed in a figurative, 
proverbial, or even poetical manner. 

But in its strict and appropriate meaning, especially 
as applied to our Saviour's parables, it signifies a short 
narrative of some event or fact, real or fictitious, in 
which a continued comparison is carried on between 
sensible and spiritual objects ; and under this similitude 
some important doctrine, moral or religious, is conveyed 
and enforced. 

This mode of instruction has many advantages over 
every other, more particularly in recommending virtue, 
or reproving vice. 

1. In the first place, when divine and spiritual things 
are represented by objects well known and familiar to 
us, such as present themselves perpetually to our ob- 
servation, in the common occurrences of life^ they are 



MATTHEW XIII. 137 

much more easily comprehended, especially by rude and 
uncultivated minds (that is, by the great bulk of man- 
kind), than if they were proposed in the original form. 

2. In all ages of the world, there is nothing with which 
mankind hath been so much delighted as with those 
little fictitious stories, which go under the name of fables 
or apologues among the ancient heathens, and of para- 
bles in the sacred writings. It is found by experience, 
that this sort of composition is better calculated to com- 
mand attention, to captivate the imagination, to affect 
the heart, and to make deeper and more lasting impres- 
sions on the memory, than the most ingenious and most 
elegant discourses that the wit of man is capable of pro- 
ducing. 

3. The very obscurity in which parables are sometimes 
involved has the effect of exciting a greater degree of 
curiosity and interest, and of urging the mind to a more 
vigorous exertion of its faculties and powers, than any 
other mode of instruction. There is something for the 
understanding to work upon ; and when the concealed 
meaning is at length elicited, we are apt to value our- 
selves on the discovery as the effect of our own penetra- 
tion and discernment, and for that very reason to pay 
more regard to the moral it conveys. 

4. When the mind is under the influence of strong 
prejudices, of violent passions, or inveterate habits, and 
when under these circumstances it becomes necessary 
to rectify error, to dissipate delusion, to reprove sin, and 
bring the offender to a sense of his danger and his guilt ; 
there is no way in which this difficult task can be so 
well executed, and the painful truths, that must be told, 
so successfully insinuated into the mind, as by disguising 
them under the veil of a well-wrought and interesting 
parable. 

This observation cannot be better illustrated than by 
referring to two parables, one in the New Testament, 
the other in the Old, which will amply confirm the truth, 
and unfold the meaning, of the preceding remarks. 

The first of these, which I allude to, is the celebrated 
parable of the good Samaritan. 

The Jews, as we learn from our Lord himself, had 
established it as a maxim, that they were to love their 
neighbour and to hate their enemy* ; and, as they consi- 

* Matt, v, 43. 

N 3 



138 LECTURE XL 

dered none as their neighbours but their own country- 
men, the consequence was, that they imagined them- 
selves at liberty to hate all the rest of the world ; a li- 
berty which they indulged without reserve, and against 
none with more bitterness than the contiguous nation of 
the Samaritans. When, therefore, the lawyer in the 
Gospel asked our Lord, who was his neighbour? had 
Christ attempted to prove to him by argument that he 
was to consider all mankind, even his enemies, even the 
Samaritans, as his neighbours, the lawyer would have 
treated his answer with contempt and disdain ; all his 
native prejudices and absurd traditions would have risen 
up in arms against so offensive a doctrine ; nor would all 
the eloquence in the world, not even the divine elo- 
quence of the Son of God himself, have been able to 
subdue the deep-rooted prepossessions of the obstinate 
Jew. 

Jesus, therefore, well knowing the impossibility of con- 
vincing the lawyer by any thing he could say, determined 
to make the man convince himself, and correct his own 
error. With this view he relates to him the parable of 
the Jewish traveller, who fell among robbers, was 
stripped and wounded, and left half dead upon the spot ;. 
and, though passed by with unfeeling indifference and 
neglect by his own countrymen, was at length relieved 
and restored to health by a compassionate Samaritan* 
He then asks the lawyer, who was neighbour to this dis- 
tressed traveller ! It was impossible for the lawyer not 
to answer, as he did (not foreseeing the consequence), 
" He that showed mercy to him;" that is, the Sama- 
ritan. Here then he at once cut up his own absurd 
opinion by the roots. For if the Samaritans, whom of 
all others the Jews most hated, were, in the true and 
substantial sense of the word, their neighbours, they were 
bound by their own law, by their own traditions, and by 
this man's own confession, to love and to assist them as 
such. The conclusion was, therefore, " Go and do thou 
likewise." 

This, then, affords a striking proof of the efficacy of 
parable in correcting strong prejudices and erroneous 
opinions. But there is another thing still more difficult 
to be subdued, and that is, inveterate wickedness and 
hardened guilt. But this too was made to give way and 
humble itself in the dust by the force of parable ; I mean 
that of Nathan. 



MATTHEW XIIL 139 

There seems reason to believe that king David, after 
he had committed the complicated crime of adultery and 
murder, had by some means or other contrived to lull his 
conscience to sleep, and to suppress the risings of any 
painful reflection in his mind. This appears almost in- 
credible, yet so the fact seems to have been ; and it 
shows in the strongest light the extreme deceitfulness of 
sin, its astonishing power over the mind of man, and the 
inveterate depravity of the human heart. When we see 
a man, who had perpetrated such atrocious deeds, to- 
tally insensible of his guilt, and not discovering the 
slightest resemblance to his own case in the affecting 
and awakening story which the prophet related, it af- 
fords a striking and a melancholy proof what human na- 
ture is when left to itself, even in the best of men : even 
in those, who, like king David, are, in the general tenour 
of their life, actuated by right principles, and even ani- 
mated (as he evidently was) with the warmest senti- 
ments of piety and devotion. And it demonstrates in 
the clearest manner the absolute necessity of that help 
from above in the discharge of our duty, which the 
Christian revelation holds out to us, and which men of 
the world are so apt to despise and deride as a weak de- 
lusion and fanatical imagination ; I mean the divine in- 
fluences of the Holy Spirit ; without which there is not 
a single individual here present, however highly he may 
think of the natural rectitude and invincible integrity of 
his own mind, who may not in an evil hour, when he 
least thinks of it, be betrayed by some powerful and un- 
expected temptation into as much guilt, and become as 
blind to his own situation, as was that unhappy prince of 
whom we are now speaking. 

It was indispensably necessary to rouse the sinner out 
of this dreadful lethargy ; but how was this to be done ? 
Had Nathan plainly and directly charged him with all 
the enormity of his guilt, the probability is, that either 
in the first transport of his resentment he would have 
driven the prophet from his presence, or that he would 
have attempted to palliate, to soften, to explain away 
his crime ; would have pleaded the strength of his pas- 
sion or the violence of the temptation, and perhaps 
claimed some indulgence for his rank and situation in 
life. But all these pleas were at once silenced, and his 
retreat completely cut off, by making him the judge of 
his own case, and forcing his condemnation out of his 



140 LECTURE XL 

own mouth. For after he had denounced death on the 
rich man for taking away the ewe lamb of the poor one, 
he could with no decency pretend, that he, who had de- 
stroyed the life of one fellow creature, and the innocence 
of another, was deserving of a milder sentence. 

There was nothing then left for him but to confess at 
once, as he did, "that he had sinned against the Lord ;" 
and his penitence we know was as severe and exemplary 
as his crime had been atrocious. 

It is much to be lamented, that these indirect methods 
should be found necessary, in order to show men to 
themselves, and acquaint them with their real charac- 
ters, especially when it is their own interest not to be 
mistaken in so important a concern. But the wise and 
the virtuous in every age have condescended to make 
use of this innocent artifice ; the necessity of which is 
founded in the sad corruption of human nature, and in 
that gross and deplorable blindness to their own sins 
and follies, which is observable in so large a part of 
mankind. They engage with warmth and eagerness in 
worldly pursuits, which employ their attention and ex- 
cite their passions : so that they have little time, and 
less inclination, to reflect calmly and seriously on their 
own conduct, in a moral and religious point of view. 
But if their thoughts are at any time forced inwards, 
and they cannot help taking a view of themselves, a 
deeper source of delusion is still behind. The same ac- 
tions, which, when committed by others, are immedi- 
ately discerned to be wrong, are palliated, explained, 
qualified, and apologized away, when we happen to be 
guilty of them ourselves. The circumstances in the two 
cases are discovered to be perfectly different in some 
essential point; our passions were ungovernable, the 
temptation irresistible. In short, some how or other, all 
guilt vanishes away under the management of the dex- 
terous casuist, and the intrusion of self-condemnation is 
effectually precluded. 

Still there remains, it may be said, the admonition of 
some zealous friend or faithful instructor; but zeal is 
generally vehement, and often indiscreet. By exciting 
the resentment and inflaming the anger of those it 
means to reform, it frequently defeats its own designs. 
For whoever is offended, instantly forgets his own faults, 
and dwells wholly upon those of his imprudent monitor. 
But when the veil of parable conceals for a moment 



MATTHEW XIII. 141 

from the offender that he is himself concerned in it, he 
may generally be surprised into a condemnation of every 
one that is guilty of a base, dishonourable action ; and 
when the unexpected application, Thou art the man, 
comes thundering suddenly upon him, and points out 
the perfect similarity of the supposed case to his own, 
the astonished criminal, overwhelmed with confusion, 
and driven from all his usual subterfuges and evasions, 
is compelled at length to condemn himself. 

It was probably the consideration of these delusions, 
and the other reasons above assigned, which gave rise to 
so general and so ancient a custom of conveying moral 
instruction under the cover of imaginary agents and fic- 
titious events. We find traces of it in the earliest writers ; 
and it was more peculiarly cultivated in the East, the 
region where religion and science first took their rise. 
The most ancient parables, perhaps, on record are those 
we meet with in the Old Testament ; that of Jotham, 
for instance, where the trees desired the bramble to reign 
over them* ; that of Nathan t; that of the woman of 
Tekoah^r, in the reign of David ; and that of the thistle 
and the cedar of Lebanon §, by Jehoash, king of Israel. 
From the East, this species of composition passed into 
Greece and Italy, and thence into the rest of Europe ; 
and there are two celebrated writers, one in the Greek, 
the other in the Roman tongue, whose fables every one 
is acquainted with from their earliest years. These, it 
must be owned, are elegant, amusing, and, in a certain 
degree, moral and instructive ; but they are not in any 
degree to be compared with the parables of our blessed 
Lord, which infinitely excel them, and every other com- 
position of that species, in many essential points. 

1. In the first place, the fables of the ancients are 
many of them of a very trivial nature, or at the best con- 
tain nothing more than maxims of mere worldly wisdom 
and common prudence, and sometimes, perhaps, a little 
moral instruction. 

But the parables of our blessed Lord relate to subjects 
of the very highest importance ; to the great leading 
principles of human conduct, to the essential duties of 
man, to the nature and progress of the Christian re- 
ligion, to the moral government of the world, to the 

* Judges ix, 14. t 2 Sam. xii, 1. 

$ 2 Sam. xiv. § 2 Kings xiv, 2. 



142 LECTURE XI. 

great distinctions between vice and virtue, to the awftil 
scenes of eternity, to the divine influences of the Holy 
Spirit, to the great work of our redemption, to a resurrec- 
tion and a future judgment, and the distribution of rewards 
and punishments in a future state ; and all this expressed 
with a dignity of sentiment and a simplicity of language, 
perfectly well suited to the grandeur of the subject. 

2. In the next place, the fables of the learned hea- 
thens, though entertaining and well composed, are in 
general cold and dry, and calculated more to please the 
understanding than to touch the heart. Whereas, those 
of our blessed Lord are most of them in the highest de- 
gree affecting and interesting. Such for instance are 
the parable of the lost sheep, of the prodigal son, of the 
rich man and Lazarus, of the pharisee and publican, of 
the unforgiving servant, of the good Samaritan. There 
is nothing in all heathen antiquity to be compared to 
these ; nothing that speaks so forcibly to our tenderest 
feelings and affections, and leaves such deep and lasting 
impressions upon the soul. 

3. The Greek and Roman fables are most of them 
founded on improbable or impossible circumstances, and 
are supposed conversations between animate or inani- 
mate beings, not endowed with the power of speech ; 
between birds, beasts, reptiles, and trees ; a circum- 
stance, which shocks the imagination, and of course 
weakens the force of the instruction. 

Our Saviour's parables, on the contrary, are all of 
them images and allusions taken from nature, and from 
occurrences which are most familiar to our observation 
and experience in common life ; and the events related 
are not only such as might very probably happen, but 
several of them are supposed to be such as actually did ; 
and this would have the effect of a true historical narra- 
tive, which we all know to carry much greater weight 
and authority with it than the most ingenious fiction. Of 
the former sort are those of the rich man and Lazarus, 
of the good Samaritan, and of the prodigal son. There 
are others, in which our Saviour seems to allude to some 
historical facts, which happened in those times ; as that 
wherein it is said, that a king went into a far country> 
there to receive a kingdom. 

This probably refers to the history of Archelaus, who, 
after the death of his father, Herod the Great, went to 
Home to receive from Augustus the confirmation of his 



\ 



MATTHEW XIII. 143 

father's will, by which he had the kingdom of Judea left 
to him. 

These circumstances give a decided superiority to our 
Lord's parables over the fables of the ancients ; and, if 
we compare them with those of the Koran, the difference 
is still greater. The parables of Mahomet are trifling, 
uninteresting, tedious, and dull. Among other things, 
which he has borrowed from Scripture, one is the parable 
of Xathan, in which he has most ingeniously contrived 
to destroy all its spirit, force, and beauty ; and has so 
completely distorted and deformed its whole texture and 
composition, that if the commentator had not informed 
you, in very gentle terms, that it is the parable of Na- 
than a little disguised, you would scarcely have known it 
to be the same. Such is the difference between a pro- 
phet, who is really inspired, and an impostor, who pre- 
tends to be so. 

W or is it only in his parables, but in his other dis- 
courses to the people, that Jesus draws his doctrines and 
instructions from the scenes of nature, from the objects 
that surrounded him, from the most common occurrences 
of life, from the seasons of the year, from some extra- 
ordinary incidents or remarkable transactions. " Thus," 
as a learned and ingenious writer has observed*, " upon 
curing a blind man, he styles himself the light of the 
world, and reproves the Pharisees for their spiritual 
blindness and inexcusable obstinacy in refusing to be 
cured and enlightened by him. On little children being 
brought to him, he recommends the innocence, the sim- 
plicity, the meekness, the humility, the docility of that 
lovely age, as indispensable qualifications for those, that 
would enter into the kingdom of heaven. Beholding the 
flowers of the field, and the fowls of the air, he teaches 
his disciples to frame right and worthy notions of that 
Providence which supports and adorns them, and will 
therefore assuredly not neglect the superior order of 
rational beings. Observing the fruits of the earth, he in- 
structs them to judge of men by their fruitfulness under 
all the means of grace. From the mention of meat and 
drink, he leads them to the sacred rite of eating his 
body and drinking his blood in a spiritual sense. From 
external ablutions, he deduces the necessity of purify- 
ing the heart, and cleansing the affections. Those that 

* See Bishop Law's Considerations on the Theory of Religion. 



144 LECTURE XL 

were fishers, he teaches to be fishers of men ; to draw 
them by the force of argument and persuasion, aided by 
the influence of divine grace, to the belief and practice 
of true religion. Seeing the money-changers, he ex- 
horts his disciples to lay out their several talents to the 
best advantage. Being among the sheep-folds, he proves 
himself the true shepherd of souls. Among vines he 
discourses of the spiritual husbandman and vine-dres- 
ser, and draws a parallel between his vineyard and the 
natural one. Upon the appearance of summer in the 
trees before him, he points out evident signs of his ap- 
proaching kingdom. When the harvest comes on, he 
reminds his disciples of the spiritual harvest, the harvest 
of true believers ; and exhorts them to labour diligently 
in that work, and add their prayers to Heaven for its 
success. From servants being made free in the sabbatical 
year, he takes occasion to proclaim a nobler emancipa^ 
tion and more important redemption from the slavery of 
sin, and the bondage of corruption, by the death of 
dhrisL From the eminence of a city standing on a hill* 
he turns his discourse to the conspicuous situation of his 
own disciples. From the temple before him, he points 
to that of his own body : and from Herod's unadvisedly 
leading out his army to meet the king of Arabia, who 
came against him with a superior force and defeated 
him, a lesson is held out to all who entered on the Chris- 
tian warfare, that they should first well weigh and care- 
fully compute the difficulties attending it, and by the 
grace of God resolve to surmount them." 

In the same manner, when he delivered the parable of 
the sower, which we find in this chapter, and which will 
be the next subject of our consideration, it was probably 
seed time, and from the ship in which he taught he might 
observe the husbandmen scattering their seed upon the 
earth. From thence he took occasion to illustrate, by 
that rural and familiar image, the different effects which 
the doctrines of Christianity had on different men, ac- 
cording to the different tempers and dispositions that 
they happen to meet with. 

" Behold," says he, " a sower went forth to sow. 
And when he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the 
fowls came and devoured them up. Some fell upon 
stony places, where they had not much earth, and forth- 
with they sprung up, because they had no deepness of 
#arth j and when the sun was up they were scorched, 



MATTHEW XIII. 145 

and because they had no root they withered away. And 
some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and 
choked them. But other fell into good ground, and 
brought forth fruit, some an hundred-fold, some sixty- 
fold, some thirty-fold." As our blessed Lord, soon after 
he had uttered this parable, explained it to his disciples, 
it is highly proper that you should have this explanation 
in his own words. " Hear ye, therefore," says he, " the 
parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word 
of the kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh 
the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown 
in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way- 
side. But he that received the seed into stony places, 
the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy 
receiveth it ; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth 
for a while ; for when tribulation or persecution ariseth 
because of the word, by-and-by he is offended. He also, 
that received seed among the thorns, is he that heareth 
the word, and the cares of this world and the deceit- 
fulness of riches choke the word, and he becometh un- 
fruitful. But he, that received seed into the good ground, 
is he that heareth the word and understandeth it ; which 
also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth some an hundred- 
fold, some sixty, some thirty." 

Such is the parable of the sower, and the explanation 
of it by our Saviour ; which will furnish us with abun- 
dant matter for a great variety of very important reflec- 
tions. But as these cannot be distinctly stated and suffi- 
ciently enlarged upon at present, without going to a 
considerable length of time, and trespassing too far on 
that patience and indulgence which I have already but 
too often put to the test, I must reserve for my next 
Lecture the observations I have to offer on this very in- 
teresting and instructive parable. 







LECTURE XII 



MATTHEW XIII, Continued. 

The last Lecture concluded with a recital of the parable 
of the sower, and our Lord's explanation of it ; and I 
now proceed to lay before you those reflections which 
it has suggested to my mind. 

In the first place, then, it must be observed, that this 
parable, like many others, is prophetic as well as in- 
structive ; it predicts the fate of the Christian religion 
in the world, and the different sorts of reception it will 
meet with from different men. And as this prediction is 
completely verified by the present state of religion, as 
we see it at this hour existing among ourselves, it affords 
one very decisive proof of Christ's power of foreseeing 
future events, and of course tends strongly to establish 
the truth of his pretensions, and the divine authority of 
his religion. 

In the next place it is evident, that there are four dif- 
ferent classes of men here described, which comprehend 
all the different religious or irreligious characters that 
are to be met with in the world. The first consists of 
those " that hear the word of the kingdom," as our Lord 
expresses it, " and understand it not : then cometh the 
wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in 
their hearts. These are they," says he, " which received 
seed by the way-side." By these are meant those per- 
sons whose minds, like the beaten high road, are hard 
and impenetrable, and inaccessible to conviction. Of 
these, we all know, there are too many in the world ; 
some who have imbibed early and deep-rooted prejudices 
against Christianity ; who, either conceiving themselves 
superior to the rest of mankind in genius, knowledge, 
and penetration, reject with scorn whatever the bulk of 



MATTHEW XIII. 147 

mankind receives with veneration, and erect favourite 
systems of their own, which they conceive to be the 
very perfection of human wisdom ; or, on the other 
hand, having been unfortunately very early initiated in 
the writings of modern philosophists, implicitly adopt 
the opinions of those whom they consider as the great 
luminaries and oracles of the age, receive ridicule as 
argument, and assertion as proof, and prefer the silly 
witticisms, the specious sophistry, the metaphysical sub- 
tlety, the coarse buffoonery, which distinguish many of 
the most popular opponents of our faith, to the sim- 
plicity, dignity, and sublimity of the divine truths of the 
Gospel. These are the professed infidels, or, as they 
choose to style themselves, the disciples of philosophy 
and reason, and the enemies of priestcraft, fanaticism, 
and superstition. 

But, besides these, there is another description of men, 
on whom the good seed makes little or no impression ; 
these are the thoughtless, the inattentive, the incon- 
siderate, the trifling, the gay, who think of nothing be- 
yond the present scene, and who do not consider them- 
selves as in the smallest degree interested in any thing 
else. These men, without professing themselves unbe- 
lievers, without formally and explicitly rejecting the 
Gospel, yet do in fact never concern themselves about 
it. It forms no part of their system, it does not at all 
enter into their plans of life. The former sort above de- 
scribed are infidels on principle ; these are practical 
infidels, without any principle at all. Being born of 
Christian parents, and instructed perhaps in the first 
rudiments of Christianity, they call themselves Chris- 
tians ; they attend divine service, they repeat their 
prayers, they listen to the discourses of the preacher, 
they make no objections to what they hear, they question 
not the propriety of what they are taught : but here their 
religion ends ; it never goes beyond the surface, it never 
penetrates into their hearts, it lies on the hard beaten high- 
way. The instant they leave the church, every idea of 
religion vanishes out of their thoughts ; they never re- 
flect for one moment on what they have heard; they 
never consider the infinite importance of what is to hap- 
pen after death ; the awful prospects of eternity never 
present themselves to their minds, neither excite their 
hopes nor alarm their fears. " With their mouths, in- 
deed, they confess the Lord Jesus, but they do not be- 



148 LECTURE XII. 

lieve with their hearts unto salvation:" and although 
perhaps in the wide waste of a trifling, insignificant life, 
a few worthy actions or a few solitary virtues appear, 
yet their affections are not set on things above, their 
hopes are not centered there, their views do not tend 
there ; their treasure is on earth, and there is their heart 
also. 

These two characters, the hardened unbeliever, and 
the mere nominal Christian, constitute the first class de- 
scribed by our Saviour in the parable of the sower. 
These are they which receive the seed by the way-side, 
where it lies neglected upon the surface, till " the fowls 
of the air devour it, or the wicked one catcheth it out of 
their hearts;" and there is an end at once of all their 
hopes of salvation, perhaps for ever. 

Secondly, There is another sort of soil mentioned in 
the parable, which gives the seed at first a more favour- 
able reception. When it falls on stony ground, it finds 
no great difficulty in gaining admission into a little loose 
earth scattered upon a rock ; it springs up with amazing 
rapidity ; but no sooner " does the sun rise upon it with 
its scorching heat, than it withers away for want of 
depth of earth, root, and moisture." 

What a lively representation is this of weak and un- 
stable Christians! They receive Christianity at first 
with gladness; they are extremely ready to be made 
eternally happy, and suppose that they have nothing else 
to do but to repeat their creed, and take possession of 
heaven. But when they find that there are certain con- 
ditions to be performed on their parts also ; that they 
must give up their favourite interests and restrain their 
strongest passions, must sometimes even pluck out a right 
eye or tear off a right arm ; that they must take up their 
cross and follow a crucified Saviour through many diffi- 
culties, distresses, and persecutions ; their ardour and 
alacrity are instantly extinguished. They want strength 
of mind, soundness of principle, and sincerity of faith to 
support thern. No wonder, then, that they fall away and 
depart from their allegiance to their divine Master and 
Redeemer. This is the second sort of hearers described 
in the parable, " that receive the word at first with joy ; 
but having no root in themselves, when tribulation and 
persecution arise because of the word, by-and-by they 
are offended." This refers more immediately to the first 
disciples and first preachers of the Gospel, who were 



MATTHEW XIII. 149 

exposed, in the discharge of their high office, to the 
severest trials, and the cruellest persecutions from their 
numerous and powerful enemies. Some of them, un- 
doubtedly, who had not sufficient root in themselves, 
gave way to the storms that assailed them, and made 
shipwreck of their faith, as our Lord here foretels that 
they would. But others, we know, stood firm and un- 
moved, amidst the most tremendous dangers, and under- 
went, with unparalleled fortitude, the most excruciating 
torments. The description, which the writer to the He- 
brews gives of the saints and prophets of old, may, with 
the strictest truth, be applied to the apostles and their 
successors in the first ages of the Gospel, under the 
various persecutions to which they were exposed. " They 
had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings ; yea, more- 
over, of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, 
they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with 
the sword, were destitute, afflicted, tormented*." All 
these barbarities they endured with unshaken patience 
and firmness, and thereby bore the strongest possible 
testimony, not only to their own sincerity, but to the 
divine and miraculous influence of the religion which 
they taught. For it is justly and forcibly observed by 
the excellent Mr Addison, that the astonishing and un- 
exampled fortitude, which was shown by innumerable 
multitudes of martyrs, in those slow and painful tor- 
ments that were inflicted on them, is nothing less than 
a standing miracle during the three first centuries. u I 
cannot," says he, " conceive a man placed in the burn- 
ing iron chair of Lyons, amidst the insults and mockeries 
of a crowded amphitheatre, and still keeping his seat ; or 
stretched upon a grate of iron over an intense fire, and 
breathing out his soul amidst the exquisite sufferings of 
such a tedious execution, rather than renounce his re- 
ligion, or blaspheme his Saviour, without supposing 
something supernatural. Such trials seem to me above 
the strength of human nature, and able to overbear 
duty, reason, faith, conviction, nay, and the most ab- 
solute certainty of a future state. We can easily ima- 
gine that a few persons in so good a cause might have 
laid down their lives at the gibbet, the stake, or the 
block : but that multitudes of each sex, of every age, of 
different countries and conditions, should, for nearly 

* Heb. xi, 36, 37. 

O 3 



150 LECTURE XII. 

three hundred years together, expire leisurely amidst the 
most exquisite tortures, rather than apostatize from the 
truth, has something in it so far beyond the natural 
strength and force of mortals, that one cannot but con- 
clude there was some miraculous power to support the 
sufferers ; and if so, here is at once a proof, from history 
and from fact, of the divine origin of our religion*." 

There is a third portion of the seed, that falls among 
thorns. This wants neither root nor depth of earth. It 
grows up ; but the misfortune is, that the thorns grow up 
with it. The fault of the soil is not that of bearing 
nothing, but of bearing too much ; of bearing what it 
ought not, of exhausting its strength and nutrition on 
vile and worthless productions, which choke the good 
seed, and prevent it from coming to perfection. " These 
are they," says our Saviour, in the parallel place of 
St. Luke, " which, when they have heard, go forth, and 
are choked with the cares, and riches, and pleasures of 
this life, and bring no fruit to perfection." In their youth 
perhaps they receive religious instruction, they imbibe 
right principles, and listen to good advice : but no sooner 
do they go forth, no sooner do they leave those persons 
and those places from whom they receive them, than 
they take the road either of business or of pleasure, 
pursue their interests, their amusements, or their guilty 
indulgences, with unbounded eagerness, and have nei- 
ther time nor inclination to cultivate the seeds of religion 
that have been sown in their hearts, and to eradicate the 
weeds that have been mingled with them. The conse- 
quence is, that the weeds prevail, and the seeds are 
choked and lost. 

Can there possibly be a more faithful picture of a large 
proportion of the Christian world ? Let us look around 
us, and observe how the greater part of those we meet 
with are employed. In what is it that their thoughts are 
busied, their views, their hopes, and their fears centered, 
their attention occupied, their hearts, and souls, and affec- 
tions engaged 1 Is it in searching the Scripture, in me- 
ditating on its doctrines, its precepts, its exhortations, its 
promises, and its threats 1 Is it in communing with their 
own hearts, in probing them to the very bottom, in look- 
ing carefully whether there be any way of wickedness in 
them, in plucking out every noxious weed, and leaving 

* Addison's Evidences, s. vii. 



MATTHEW XIII. 151 

room for the good seed to grow, and swell, and expand 
itself, and bring forth fruit to perfection ! Is it in cul- 
tivating purity of manners, a spirit of charity towards 
the whole human race, and the most exalted sentiments 
of piety, gratitude, and love towards their Maker and 
Redeemer ? These, I fear, aie far from being the general 
and principal occupations of mankind. Too many of them 
are, God knows, very differently employed. They are 
overwhelmed with business, they are devoted to amuse- 
ment, they are immersed in sensuality, they are mad 
with ambition, they are idolaters of wealth, of power, of 
glory, of fame. On these things all their affections are 
fixed. These are the great objects of their pursuit ; and 
if any accidental thought of religion happens to cross 
their way, they instantly dismiss the unbidden, unwel- 
come guest, with the answer of Felix to Paul, " Go thy 
way for this time ; when we have a convenient season, 
we will send for thee." 

But how then, it is said, are we to conduct ourselves 1 
If Providence has blessed us with riches, with honour, 
with power, with reputation, are we to reject these gifts 
of our Heavenly Father ; or ought we not rather to ac- 
cept them with thankfulness, and enjoy with gratitude 
the advantages and the comforts which his bounty has 
bestowed upon us 1 Most assuredly we ought. But then 
they are to be enjoyed, also, with innocence, with tem- 
perance, and with moderation. They must not be al- 
lowed to usurp the first place in our hearts. They must 
not be permitted to supplant God in our affection, or to 
dispute that pre-eminence and priority which he claims 
over every propensity of our nature. This, and this only, 
can prevent the good seed from being choked with the 
cares, the riches, and the pleasures of the present life. 

We now come, in the last place, to the seed which fell 
on good ground, which our Lord tells us, in St. Luke, 
denotes those that in an honest and good heart, having 
heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with pati- 
ence, some an hundred-fold, some sixty, some thirty. 

We here see, that the first and principal qualification 
for hearing the word of God, for keeping it, for render- 
ing it capable of bringing forth fruit, is "an honest and 
a good heart;" that is, a heart free from all those evil 
dispositions and corrupt passions which blind the eyes, 
distort the understanding, and obstruct the admission of 
divine truth ; a heart perfectly clear from prejudice, from 



152 LECTURE XII. 

pride, from vanity, from self-sufficiency, and self-conceit ; 
a heart sincerely disposed and earnestly desirous to find 
out the truth, and firmly resolved to embrace it when 
found ; ready to acknowledge its own ignorance, weak- 
ness, and corruption, and " to receive with meekness the 
engrafted word, which is able to save the soul." 

This is that innocence, and simplicity, and singleness 
of mind, which we find so frequently recommended and 
so highly applauded by our blessed Lord, and which is 
so beautifully and feelingly described when young chil- 
dren were brought to him that he should touch them, 
and were checked by his disciples. " Suffer the little 
children to come unto me," says he, " and forbid them 
not, for of such is the kingdom of God ; " and then he 
adds, " Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God 
as a little child, he shall not enter therein*." Here, in 
a few words, and by a most significant and affecting em- 
blem, is expressed that temper and disposition of mind 
which is the most essential qualification for the kingdom 
of heaven. Unless we come to the Gospel with that 
meekness, gentleness, docility, and guileless simplicity, 
which constitute the character of a child, and render 
him so lovely and captivating, we cannot enter into the 
kingdom of heaven ; we cannot either assent to the evi- 
dence, believe the doctrines, or obey the precepts of the 
Christian religion. Hence we see the true reason why 
so many men of distinguished talents have rejected the 
religion of Christ. It is not because its evidences are 
defective, or its doctrines repugnant to reason ; it is be- 
cause their dispositions were the very reverse of what 
the Gospel requires ; because (as their writings evidently 
show) they were high spirited, violent, proud, conceited, 
vain, disdainful, and sometimes profligate too ; because, 
in short, they wanted that honest and good heart, which 
not only receives the good seed, but keeps it, and nou- 
rishes it with unceasing patience, till it bring forth fruit 
to perfection. They could not enter into the marriage 
feast, because they had not on the wedding garment, 
because they were not " clothed with humility t." For, 
" God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the hum- 
ble. Them that are meek, shall he guide in judgment ; 
and such as are gentle, them shall he learn his way I." 

* Mark x, 14, 15. t 2 Pet. v, 5. 

X James iv-. 6; Psalm xxv>0. 



MATTHEW XIII. 153 

But here arises a difficulty, on which the enemies of 
our faith lay great stress, and frequently allege as an ex- 
cuse for their infidelity and impiety. If, say they, the 
success of the good seed depends on the soil in which it 
is sown, the success of the Gospel must, in the same 
manner, depend (as this very parable is meant to prove) 
on the temper and disposition of the recipient, of the 
person to whom it is offered. Now this temper and dis- 
position are not of our own making : they are the work 
of nature ; they are what our Creator has given us. If 
then, in any particular instance, they are unfortunately 
such as disqualify us for the reception of the Gospel, the 
fault is not ours ; it is in the soil, it is in our natural 
constitution, for which surely we cannot be held re- 
sponsible. 

This plea is specious and plausible ; but it is nothing 
more. The fact is, that the imbecility and corruption 
introduced into our moral frame by the fall of our first 
parents is in some measure felt by all ; but undoubtedly 
in different individuals shows itself in different degrees, 
and that from their very earliest years. Look at any 
large family of children living together under the eye of 
their parents, and you will frequently discover in them a 
surprising variety of tempers, humours, and dispositions ; 
and although the same instructions are given to all, the 
same care and attention, the same discipline, the same 
vigilance exercised over each, yet some shall be, in their 
general conduct, meek, gentle, and submissive; others 
impetuous, passionate, and froward ; some active, enter- 
prising, and bold ; others quiet, contented, and calm ; 
some cunning, artful, and close ; others open, frank, and 
ingenuous ; some, in short, malevolent, mischievous, and 
unfeeling ; others kind, compassionate, good-natured ; 
and though sometimes betraying the infirmity of human 
nature, by casual omissions of duty and errors of conduct, 
yet soon made sensible of their faults, and easily led back 
to regularity, order, piety, and virtue. 

Here, then, is unquestionably the difference of natural 
constitution contended for. But what is the true infer- 
ence 1 Is it, that those whose dispositions are the worst 
are to give themselves up for lost, are to abandon all 
hopes of salvation, and to allege their depraved nature 
as a sufficient apology for infidelity or vice, as consti- 
tuting a complete inability either to believe or to obey 
the Gospel? No such thing. On the contrary, it is a 



154 LECTURE XII. 

strong and powerful call, first upon their parents and the 
guides of their youth, and afterwards upon themselves, 
to watch over, to restrain, to correct, to amend, to me- 
liorate their evil dispositions, and to supply by attention, 
by discipline, and by prayer, what has been denied by 
nature. It may be thought hard, perhaps, that all this 
care, and labour, and painful conflict, should be neces- 
sary to some and not (in the same degree at least) to 
others ; and that so marked a distinction in so important 
a point should be made between creatures of the same 
species. But is not the same distinction made in other 
points of importance 7 Are not men placed from their 
very birth by the hand of Providence in different situa- 
tions of rank, power, wealth 1 Are not some indulged 
with every advantage, every blessing that their hearts 
can wish, and others sunk in obscurity, penury, and 
wretchedness? Are not some favoured with the most 
splendid talents and capacities for acquiring knowledge ; 
others slow in conception, weak in understanding, and 
almost impenetrable to instruction 1 Are not some blessed 
from their birth with strong, healthy, robust constitutions, 
subject to no infirmities, no diseases ; others weak, sickly, 
tender, liable to perpetual disorders, and with the utmost 
difficulty dragging on a precarious existence? Yet, does 
this preclude all these different individuals from improv- 
ing their condition ; does it prevent the lowest member 
of society from endeavouring to raise himself into a su- 
perior class ; does it prevent the most indigent from la- 
bouring to acquire a fortune by industry, frugality, and 
activity ; does it prevent the most ignorant from culti- 
vating their minds, and furnishing them with some de- 
gree of knowledge j does it prevent those of the tenderest 
and most delicate frames from strengthening, confirming, 
and invigorating their health, by management, by me- 
dicine, and by temperance ? We see the contrary every 
day ; we see all these different characters succeeding in 
their efforts beyond their most sanguine expectations, 
and rising to a degree of opulence, of rank, of power, of 
learning, and of health, of which at their outset they 
could not have formed the most distant idea. And why 
then are we not to act in the same manner with regard 
to our natural tempers, dispositions, propensities, and in- 
clinations 1 Why are we not to suppose them as capable 
of improvement and melioration as our condition, our 
fortune, our intellectual powers, and our bodily health ? 



MATTHEW XIII. 155 

Why are we to allege impossibility in one case more 
than in the others ? The truth is, that a bad constitution 
of mind as well as of body may, by proper care and at- 
tention, and the powerful influences of the Holy Spirit, 
be greatly, if not wholly, amended. And as it some- 
times happens, that they who have the weakest and most 
distempered frames, by means of an exact regimen, and 
an unshaken perseverance in rule and method, outlive 
those of a robuster make and more luxuriant health ; so 
there are abundant instances where men of the most per- 
verse dispositions and most depraved turn of mind, by 
keeping a steady guard upon their weak parts, and gra- 
dually, but continually, correcting their defects, apply- 
ing earnestly for assistance from above, going on from 
strength to strength, and from one degree of perfection to 
another, have at length arrived at a higher pitch of vir- 
tue than those for whom nature had done much more, 
and who would therefore do but little for themselves. 

Let us then never despair. If we have not from con- 
stitution that honest and good heart which is necessary 
for receiving the good seed, and bringeth forth fruit with 
patience, we may by degrees, and by the blessing of 
God, gradually acquire it. If the soil is not originally 
good, it maybe made so by labour and cultivation ; but, 
above all, by imploring our heavenly Father to shower 
down upon it the plentiful effusions of his grace, which 
he has promised to all that devoutly, and fervently, and 
constantly pray for it. This dew from heaven, " shed 
abroad in our hearts*," will refresh, and invigorate, and 
purify our souls ; will correct the very worst disposition ; 
will soften and subdue the hardest and most ungrateful 
soil ; will make it clean, and pure, and moist, fit for the 
reception of the good seed ; and, notwithstanding its ori- 
ginal poverty and barrenness, will enrich it with strength 
and vigour sufficient to bring forth fruit to perfection. 

I have now finished these Lectures for the present 
year, and must, on this occasion, again entreat you to 
let those truths, to which you have listened with so 
much patience and perseverance, take entire possession 
of your hearts. They are not vain, they are not trivial 
things, they are the words of eternal life ; they relate to 
the most important of all human concerns, to the most 
essential interests and comfort of the present life, and to 

* Romans v, 5. 



156 LECTURE XII. 

the destiny, the eternal destiny, of happiness or misery 
that awaits you in the next. 

You have just heard the parable of the sower ex- 
plained, and it behoves you to consider in which of the 
four classes of men there described you can fairly rank 
yourselves. Are you in the number of those that re- 
ceive the seed by the way-side, on hearts as impene- 
trable and inaccessible to conviction as the hard-beaten 
high-road 1 Or of those that receive the seed on a little 
loose earth scattered on a rock, where it quickly springs 
up, and as quickly withers away ? Or of those in whom 
the seed is choked with thorns, with the occupations and 
pleasures of this life 1 Or, lastly, of those who receive the 
seed on good ground, on an honest and good heart, and 
bring forth fruit, some a hundred-fold, some sixty, some 
thirty 1 It becomes every one of you to ask yourselves 
this question very seriously, and to answer it very ho- 
nestly; for on that depends the whole colour of your 
future condition here and hereafter. 

There are none, I trust, here present, there are few I 
believe in this country, who fall under the first descrip- 
tion of professed and hardened unbelievers ; and, amidst 
many painful circumstances of these awful and anxious 
times, it is some consolation to us to reflect, that the in- 
credible pains which have been taken in a multitude of 
vile publications, to induce the people of this country to 
apostatize from their religion, have not made that gene- 
ral and permanent impression on their minds which 
might naturally have been expected from such malig- 
nant and reiterated efforts to shake their principles and 
subvert their faith. But there are other instruments of 
perversion and corruption, much more formidable and 
more powerful than these. There are rank and noxious 
weeds and thorns, which grow up with the good seed 
and choke it, and prevent it from coming to maturity. 
These are, as the parable tells us, the cares, the riches, 
and the pleasures of this world, which in our passage 
through life lay hold upon our hearts, and are more dan- 
gerous obstructions to the Gospel than all the specula- 
tive arguments and specious sophistry of all its adversaries 
put together. It is but seldom, I believe, comparatively 
speaking, that men are fairly reasoned out of their re- 
ligion. But they are very frequently seduced, both 
from the practice and the belief of it, by treacherous 
passions within and violent temptations from without, 



MATTHEW XIII. 157 

by " the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the 
pride of life." These are, in fact, the most common, the 
most powerful enemies of our faith. These are the weeds 
and the thorns that twist themselves round every fibre 
of our hearts, which impede the growth and destroy the 
fruitfulness of every good principle that has been im- 
planted there, and form that third and most numerous 
class of hearers described in the parable of the sower, 
who, though not professed infidels, are yet practical un- 
believers, and who, though they retain the form, have 
lost all the substance, all the power, all the life and soul 
of religion. 

It is, then, against these most dangerous corrupters of 
our fidelity and allegiance to our heavenly blaster, that 
we must principally be upon our guard ; it is against 
these we must arm and prepare our souls, by summoning 
all our fortitude and resolution, and calling in to our aid 
all those spiritual succours, which the power of prayer 
can draw down upon us from above. It was to assist us 
in this arduous conflict, that the compilers of our Liturgy 
appointed the season of Lent, and more particularly the 
offices of the concluding week, which, from the suffer- 
ings of our Saviour at that time, we call Passion week. 
It was thought, and surely it was wisely thought, by our 
ancestors, that to fortify ourselves against the attrac- 
tions of the world, and the seductions of sin, it was ne- 
cessary to withdraw ourselves sometimes from the tu- 
multuous and intoxicating scenes of business and of plea- 
sure, which, in the daily commerce of life, press so close 
on every side of us ; and to strengthen and confirm our 
minds against their fatal influence, by retirement, by 
recollection, by self-communion, by self-examination, 
by meditating on the word of God, and, above all, by 
frequent and fervent prayer. To give us time for these 
sacred occupations, a small portion of every year has 
been judiciously set apart for them by our church ; and 
what time could be so proper for those holy purposes, 
as that in which our blessed Lord was suffering so much 
for our sakes ! I allude more particularly to that solemn 
week which is now approaching, and to which I must 
beg to call the most serious attention of every one here 
present. 

In that week all public diversions are, as you well 
know, wisely prohibited by public authority; and, in 
conformitv to the spirit of such prohibition, we should, 

P 



158 LECTURE XII. 

even in our own families, and in our own private amuse* 
ments, be temperate, modest, decorous, and discreet. 
Think not, however, that I am here recommending gloom 
and melancholy, and seclusion from all society ; far from 
it. This could answer no other purpose but to sour your 
minds and to deaden your devotions. The cheerfulness 
of social converse and friendly intercourse is by no 
means inconsistent with the duties of the week ; but all 
those tumultuous assemblies, which are too strongly 
marked with an air of levity, gaiety, and dissipation, 
and may in fact be ranked in the number of public di- 
versions, are plainly repugnant to that seriousness and 
tenderness of mind, which the awful and interesting 
events of that week must naturally inspire. Let me only 
request you to read over, when you return home, that 
plain, simple, unaffected, yet touching narrative of our 
Saviour's sufferings, which is selected from the Gospels, 
in the daily offices of the next week , and then ask your 
own hearts, whether, at the very time when your Re- 
deemer is supposed to have passed through all those 
dreadful scenes for your sakes and for your salva- 
tion, from his first agony in the garden to his last expir- 
ing groan upon the cross, whether at this very time you 
can bring yourselves to pursue the pleasures, the vani- 
ties, and the follies of the world, with the same unqua- 
lified eagerness and unabated ardour, as if nothing had 
happened which had given him the slightest pain, or in 
which you had the smallest interest or concern. Your 
hearts, I am sure, will revolt at the very idea, and your 
own feelings will preserve you from thus wantonly sport- 
ing with the cross of Christ. And if to a prudent ab- 
stinence from these things you were to add a careful 
inquiry into your past conduct, and the present state of 
your souls ; if you were to extend your views to another 
world, and consider what your condition there is likely 
to be ; what reasonable grounds you have to hope for a 
favourable sentence from your Almighty Judge ; how 
far you have conformed to the commands of your Maker, 
and what degree of affection and gratitude you have 
manifested for the inexpressible kindness of your Re- 
deemer ; this surely would be an employment not incon- 
sistent with your necessary occupations, and not unsuit- 
able to humble candidates for pardon, acceptance, and 
immortal happiness. 

Is this too great a burthen to be imposed upon us for 



MATTHEW XIII. 159 

a few days ? Is it too great a sacrifice of our time, our 
thoughts, and our amusements, to an invisible world, 
and a reversionary inheritance of inestimable value? 
It certainly is, if the Gospel be all a fabricated tale. 
But if it contain the words of soberness and truth ; if its 
divine authority is established by such an accumulation 
of evidence, of various kinds, as never before concurred 
to prove any other facts or events in the history of the 
world, by evidences springing from different sources, yet 
all centering in the same point, and converging to the 
same conclusion ; if even the few incidental proofs, that 
have been offered to your consideration in the course of 
these Lectures, have produced that conviction in your 
minds which they seem to have done ; what then is the 
consequence 1 Is it not, that truths of such infinite im- 
portance well deserve all that consideration for which I 
am now contending ; and that we ought to embrace with 
eagerness every appointed means, and every favourable 
opportunity that is thrown in our way, of demonstrating 
our attachment and our gratitude to a crucified Saviour, 
who died for our sins, and rose again for our justification, 
and will come once more in glory to judge the world in 
righteousness, and to distribute his rewards and punish- 
ments to all the nations of the earth assembled before 
him 1 At that awful tribunal may we all appear with a 
humble confidence in the merits of our Redeemer, and 
a trembling hope of that mercy, which he has promised 
to every sincere believer, every truly contrite and peni- 
tent offender ! 



i 



LECTURE XIII. 



MATTHEW XIII, Continued. 

The Lectures of the last year concluded with an expla- 
nation of the parable of the sower ; and immediately 
after this follows in the Gospel the parable of the tares, 
which will be the subject of our present consideration*. 

The parable is as follows: " The kingdom of heaven 
is likened unto a man, which sowed good seed in his 
field; but, while men slept, his enemy came and sowed 
tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when 
the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then 
appeared the tares also. So the servants of the house- 
holder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow 
good seed in thy field ; from whence then hath it tares ? 
He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The ser- 
vants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and 
gather them up ? But he said, Nay ; lest, while ye 
gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 
Let both grow together until the harvest ; and in the time 
of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together 
first the tares, and bind them up in bundles to burn 
them : but gather the wheat into my barn." 

After our Lord had delivered this parable, and one or 
two more very short ones, we are told, that he sent the 
multitude away, and went into the house ; and his dis- 
ciples came unto him, saying, " Declare unto us the 
parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said 
unto them, He that sowed the good seed is the Son of 
Man. The field is the world: the good seed are the 
children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children 
of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them is the 

* Matt, xiii, 24. 



MATTHEW XIII. 161 

devil: the harvest is the end of the world; and the 
reapers are the angels. As, therefore, the tares are ga- 
thered and burned in the tire, so shall it be in the end of 
this world. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, 
and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that 
offend, and them which do iniquity ; and shall cast them 
into a furnace of lire ; there shall be weeping and gnash- 
ing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the 
sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to 
hear, let him hear." 

This parable well deserves our most serious considera- 
tion, as it gives an answer to two questions of great 
curiosity and great importance, which have exercised 
the ingenuity and agitated the minds of thinking men 
from the earliest times to the present, and perhaps were 
never, at any period of the world, more interesting than 
at this very hour. 

The first of these questions is, How came moral evil 
into the world 1 

The next is, Why is it suffered to remain a single 
moment ; and why is not every wicked man immediately 
punished as he deserves 1 

The first of these questions has, we know, in almost 
all ages, and in all countries, been a constant subject of 
investigation and controversy, among metaphysicians 
and theologians, and has given birth to an infinity of 
fanciful theories and systems, to one more particularly 
in our own times, by a man of very distinguished ta- 
lents * ; all which, however, have failed of solving the 
difficulty, and have proved nothing more than this mor- 
tifying and humiliating truth, namely, the extreme 
weakness of the human intellect, when applied to sub- 
jects so far above its reach, and the utter inability of 
man to fathom the counsels of the Most High, and de- 
velop the mysterious ways of his providence, by the sole 
strength of unassisted reason t. That those, who were 

* Soarue Jenyns. 

t Among the dissertations of Plutarch ( which go by the name 
of his Morals' there is a very curious and ingenious one, entitled 
7rsp) ran -jTrz ts Scion zpyZitv; TtuwpauvsO)'/, concerning those, 
whom the Deity is slow in punishing. In this, among other just 
remarks, he observes, M that many things, winch great generals, 
and legislators, and statesmen do, are to common observers incom- 
prehensible. What wonder is it then," savs he, " if we cannot 

P'3 



162 LECTURE XIII. 

never favoured with the light of revelation, should in- 
dulge themselves in such abstruse speculations, can be 
no great wonder ; but that they, who have access to the 
original fountain of truth, and can draw from that sa- 
cred source the most authentic information on this point, 
should have recourse to the fallible conjectures of human 
ingenuity, and should hew out to themselves " cisterns, 
broken cisterns, that can hold no water," is a most un- 
accountable error of judgment, and a strange misappli- 
cation of talents and waste of labour and of time. We 
are told, in the very beginning of the Bible, that he, 
who first brought sin or moral evil into the world, was 
that great adversary of the human race, the devil, who 
first tempted the woman, and she the man, to act in 
direct contradiction to the commands of their Maker. 

This act of disobedience destroyed at once that inno- 
cence, and purity, and integrity of mind, with which 
they came out of the hands of their Creator ; gave an 
immediate and dreadful shock to their whole moral 
frame, and introduced into it all those corrupt propensi- 
ties and disordered passions, which they bequeathed as 
a fatal legacy to their descendants ; of which we all 
now feel the bitter fruits, and have, I fear, by our own 
personal and voluntary transgressions, not a little im- 
proved the wretched inheritance we received from, our 
ancestors. This is the true origin of moral evil ; and it 
is expressly confirmed by our Saviour in the parable 
before us ; in which, when the servants of the house- 
holder express their surprise at finding tares among the 
wheat, and ask whence they came, his answer is, " An 
enemy hath done this ;" and that enemy, our Lord in- 
forms us, is the devil ; that inveterate, implacable enemy 
(as the very name of Satan imports) of the human race, 
the original author of all our calamities, and at this mo- 
ment the prime mover and great master-spring of all the 
wickedness and all the misery that now overwhelm the 
world. 

To this account great objections have been made, and 
no small pains taken to confute, to expose, and to ridi- 
cule it. But, after all the wit and buffoonery which have 
been lavished upon it, it may safely be affirmed, and 

understand why the gods inflict punishment on the wicked, some- 
times at an earlier, sometimes at a later period ? " — Plut. ed. Xy- 
land. vol. ii, p. 549, F. 



MATTHEW XIII. 163 

might easily be shown, that it stands on firmer ground, 
and is encumbered with fewer difficulties, than any other 
hypothesis that has been yet proposed. 

But still, as I have already observed, there remains 
another very important question to be answered : Why 
is the wickedness of man, from whatever source it 
springs, suffered to pass unobserved and unpunished by 
the Judge of all the earth ! Why is not the bold offender 
stopped short in his career of vice and iniquity \ Why 
is he permitted to go on triumphantly, without any ob- 
stacle to his wishes, to insult, oppress, and harass the 
virtuous and the good, without the least check or con- 
trol, and, as it were, to brave the vengeance of the 
Almighty, and set at nought the great Governor of the 
world i Why, in short, in the language of the parable, 
are the tares allowed to grow up unmolested with the 
wheat, to choke its vigour and impede its growth ! Why 
are they not plucked up instantly with an indignant 
hand, and thrown to the dunghill, or committed to the 
flames 1 

This has been a most grievous " stumbling stone, a 
rock of offence, " not only to the unthinking crowd, but 
to men of serious thought and reflection in every age ; 
and scarce any thing has more perplexed and disturbed 
the minds of the good, or given more encouragement 
and audacity to the bad, than the little notice that seems 
to be taken of the most enormous crimes, and the little 
distinction that is apparently made between " the wheat 
and the tares, between the righteous and the wicked, 
between him that serveth God and him that serveth him 
not." 

The reflections, which these mysterious proceedings 
are apt to excite, even in the best and humblest of men, 
are most inimitably expressed by the royal psalmist in 
the seventy-third psalm, where you see all the different 
turns and workings of his mind laid open without dis- 
guise : and all the various ideas and sentiments, that 
successively took possession of his soul in the progress of 
his inquiry, described in the most natural and affecting 
manner. " Truly," says he, with that piety which con- 
stantly inspires him, "God is loving to Israel: even 
unto such as are of a clean heart : nevertheless my feet 
were almost gone ; my treadings had well mgh slipped. 
And why \ I was grieved at the wicked : I do also see 
the ungodly in such prosperity. For they are in no peril 



164 LECTURE XIII. 

of death, but are lusty and strong. They come in no 
misfortune like other folk ; neither are they plagued like 
other men. And this is the cause that they are so holden 
with pride, and overwhelmed with cruelty. Their eyes 
swell with fatness, and they do even what they lust. 
They corrupt other, and speak of wicked blasphemy : 
their talking is against the Most High. Tush ! say they, 
how should God perceive it ; is there knowledge in the 
Most High 1 Lo ! these are the ungodly. These prosper 
in the world, and these have riches in possession. And 
I said, then I have cleansed my heart in vain, and 
washed my hands in innocency." 

Sentiments such as these are, I believe, what many 
good men have found occasionally rising in their minds, 
on observing the prosperity of the worthless part of 
mankind. But never were they before so beautifully 
and so feelingly expressed as in this passage. These 
complaints, however, soon pass away with men of pious 
dispositions, and end in meek submission to the will of 
Heaven. But not so with the wicked and profane. By 
them the forbearance of Heaven towards sinners is 
sometimes perverted to the very worst purposes, and 
made use of as an argument to encourage and confirm 
them in the career of vice. This effect is well and ac- 
curately described in the book of Ecclesiastes : " Be- 
cause sentence against an evil work is not executed 
speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully 
set in them to do evil*." 

It was to obviate these fatal consequences, as well as 
to give support and consolation to the good, that our 
Lord delivered this parable of the tares and the wheat ; 
which will enable us to solve the arduous question above 
mentioned, arising from the impunity and prosperity of 
the wicked, and to vindicate, in this instance, the ways 
of God to man. 

But before I begin to state and explain the reasons of 
that forbearance and lenity towards sinners, which is so 
much objected to in the Divine administration of the 
world, I must take notice of one very material circum- 
stance in the case, which is, that the evil complained of 
is greatly magnified, and represented to be much more 
generally prevalent than it really is. The fact is, that 
although punishment does not always overtake the 

* Eccles. viii, 1 1 » 



MATTHEW XIII. 165 

wicked in this life, yet it falls upon them more frequently 
and heavily than we are aware of. They are often pu- 
nished when we do not observe it ; but they are also 
sometimes punished in the most public and conspicuous 
manner. 

The very first offence committed by man after the 
creation of the world was, as w r e know r to our cost, fol- 
lowed by immediate and exemplary punishment. The 
next great criminal, Cain, was rendered a fugitive and 
a vagabond upon earth, and held up as an object of ex- 
ecration and abhorrence to mankind. When the whole 
earth was sunk in wickedness, it was overwhelmed by a 
deluge. The abominations of Sodom and Gomorrah 
were avenged by fire from heaven. The tyrant Pharaoh 
and his host were drowned in the Red Sea. Korah, 
Dathan, and Abiram, and their rebellious companions, 
were buried alive in the bowels of the earth. It was for 
their portentous wickedness and savage practices, that 
the Canaanite nations were exterminated by the Israel- 
ites ; and it was for their idolatries, their licentiousness, 
and their rebellions against God, that the Israelites 
themselves were repeatedly driven into exile, reduced 
to slavery, and at length their city, their temple, and 
their whole civil polity, utterly destroyed, and them- 
selves scattered and dispersed over every part of the 
known world, and everywhere treated with derision and 
contempt. It will be said, perhaps, that these were the 
consequences of the peculiar theocratic form of their 
government, under which the rewards and the punish- 
ments were temporal and immediate, and that they are 
not to be expected in the present state of human affairs. 
Still, however, they are proofs, and tremendous proofs, 
that God is not an inattentive and unconcerned specta- 
tor of human wickedness. But let us come to our own 
times, and to the fates and fortunes of individuals under 
our observation. Do we not continually see, that they, 
who indulge their passions without control, and give an 
unbounded loose to every corrupt propensity of their 
hearts, are sooner or later the victims of their own in- 
temperance and licentiousness 1 Do they not madly 
sacrifice to the love of pleasure, and frequently within 
a very short space of time, their health, their fortune, 
their characters, their peace of mind, and that too 
completely and effectually, and beyond all hopes of re- 
covery? The instances of this are many and dreadful, 
without taking into the account such flagrant crimes as 



166 LECTURE XIII. 

deliver men over into the hands of public justice* Now 
what is all this but the sentence of God speedily exe- 
cuted against evil works 1 It may be alleged, that these 
are only the natural consequences of wrong conduct, 
and not the immediate judicial inflictions of Heaven. 
But who is it, that has made these evils the natural con- 
sequences of vice ] who but the great Author of nature 1 
He hath purposely formed his world and his creature 
man in such a manner, that these penalties shall fol- 
low close upon wickedness, as a present mark of his ab- 
horrence and detestation of it ; and they fall on many 
offenders, both so speedily and so heavily, that, till 
second thoughts correct the first impression, it seems 
almost an impeachment of his goodness, that he inflicts 
them. 

Still it must be confessed, that wickedness is some- 
times triumphant ; and so also does folly sometimes meet 
with success in the world ; but it is true, notwithstand- 
ing, that it labours under great disadvantages ; and im- 
moral conduct under still greater. The natural tendency 
of sin is to misery. Accidents may now and then pre- 
vent this, but not generally ; art and cunning may evade 
it, but not nearly so often as men imagine. 

But supposing the guilty to escape for a time all suf- 
ferings, and, in consequence of it, to please themselves 
highly with the prudence of their choice ; yet still pu- 
nishment, though slow, may overtake them at last. The 
blindness of such men to consequences is quite astonish- 
ing. One man evades the penalties of human laws in a 
few instances, and therefore concludes he shall never be 
overtaken by them. Another preserves his reputation 
for a time, and thence imagines it to be perfectly secure. 
A third finds his health hold out a few years, and there- 
fore has not the least suspicion, that what he is always 
undermining must fall at last. 

Now each of these, may, if he pleases, applaud his 
own wisdom : but every one else must see his extreme 
stupidity and folly. In fact, whoever commits sin has 
swallowed poison, which from that moment begins to 
operate ; at first, perhaps, by a pleasing intoxication ; 
afterwards by slow and uncertain degrees ; but still the 
disease is within, and is mortal ; and, since it may every 
instant break out with fatal violence, it is a melancholy 
thing to see the person infected filled with a mad joy, 
which must end in heaviness and death. 

Vice, especially of some sorts, affects to wear a smiling 



.MATTHEW XIII. 167 

countenance, and the days, that are spent in it, pass 
along for a time pleasantly enough ; but little do the 
poor wretches, that are deluded by it, reflect what bit- 
terness they are treasuring up for the rest of life, and 
how soon they may come to taste it in such consequences, 
as even the completest reformation, and the strictest 
care afterwards, will very imperfectly either prevent or 
cure. 

After all, however, it must be acknowledged, that 
there are numbers of worthless and profligate men, who 
go on for a considerable length of time, perhaps even to 
the end of their days, in a full tide of worldly prosperity, 
blessed with every thing that is thought most valuable 
in this life, wealth, power, rank, health, and strength, 
and enjoying all these advantages without interruption 
and alloy, " coming in no misfortune like other folk, and 
not plagued or arBicted like other men." 

These, it must be confessed, are strong symptoms of 
happiness, if we are to judge from appearances only. 
But does not every one know, that happiness depends 
infinitely less upon external circumstances, than on the 
internal comfort, content, and satisfaction of the mind 1 
May I not appeal to every one here present, whether 
some of the acutest sufferings, and the most exquisite 
joys he has experienced, are not those, which are con- 
fined to his own breast, which he enjoys in secrecy and 
in silence, in his retired and private moments, unob- 
served by the world, and independent of all exterior 
show ] " The heart only," says the wise man most 
truly, " knoweth its own bitterness ; and a stranger 
doth not intermeddle with its joy*.'' This, then, is the 
standard by which you must measure human happiness. 
You must not too hastily conclude, that prosperity is fe- 
licity. In order to know whether these men are truly 
what they seem to be, you must follow them into their 
retirements, into their closets, and their couches ; and if 
you could then see the interior of their hearts, you would 
probably And them objects rather of pity than of envy. 
Whatever they may pretend, or whatever air of cheer- 
fulness they may assume, it is utterly impossible, that 
they, whose sole object is to gratify their passions, with- 
out the least regard to the feelings of others ; who are 
corrupting all around them by their conversation and 

* Prov. xiv, 10. 



168 LECTURE XIII. 

their example, or spreading ruin, misery, and desolation 
over the world by their inordinate ambition ; who not 
only live in a constant violation of the commands of their 
Maker, but, perhaps, even deny his existence, renounce 
his authority, and treat every thing serious and religious 
with derision and contempt : it is, I say, utterly impos- 
sible, that these men, whatever external magnificence 
or gaiety may surround them, can enjoy that peace, and 
comfort, and content of mind, which alone constitutes 
real and substantial happiness, and without which every 
thing else is insipid and unsatisfactory. A secret con- 
sciousness, that they are acting wrong, that they are 
degrading and debasing their nature, and wasting their 
time in mean, unworthy, and mischievous pursuits ; 
frequent pangs of remorse for the irreparable injuries 
they have done to those whom they have betrayed or 
oppressed, and whose peace and comfort they have for 
ever destroyed ; a dread of that Almighty Being whom 
they have resisted and insulted ; a fear of death, and 
an apprehension of that punishment hereafter, which, 
though they affect to disbelieve and despise, they cannot 
help knowing to be possible, and feeling that they de- 
serve ; all these reflections, which, in spite of their ut- 
most efforts to stifle them, will very often force them- 
selves upon their minds, are sufficient to counteract 
every other advantage they possess, and to embitter 
every enjoyment of their lives. All shall look outwardly 
gay and happy, and all within shall be joyless and 
gloomy. They shall seem to have every thing they 
wish, and, in fact, have nothing that affords them any 
genuine satisfaction, or preserves them from the internal 
wretchedness, that perpetually haunts them. " God," 
as the Psalmist expresses it, " gives them their hearts* 
desire, and sends leanness withal into their souls*;'' 
that is, a total incapacity of deriving any true comfort 
from the blessings they possess. 

I am not here drawing imaginary pictures of misery, 
or describing situations, which have never existed ; I 
could refer you to well-known examples, which would 
amply confirm the truth of my assertions, and would 
clearly show, that the prosperity of the wicked is no 
proof of their happiness : that external calamities and 
corporeal pains, acute sufferings, disease, or death, are 

* Psalm cvi, 15. 



MATTHEW XIII. 169 

not the only instruments of vengeance, which the Al- 
mighty has in his hand for the correction of sinners ; but 
that he has other engines of punishment far more terri- 
ble than these ; that he can plant daggerr. in the breast 
of the most triumphant libertine ; and that, even when 
their worldly blessings are exalted, his secret dart can 
pierce their souls, and wring them with tortures sharper 
than a two-edged sword, yet invisible to every mortal 
eye*. 

It appears, therefore, that sinners are in fact much 
oftener and much more severely punished than we are 
aware ; that God is even now exercising a moral govern- 
ment over the world ; that he is filling them with the 
fruits of their own devices, and chastening them in a 
variety of ways, not always discernible by us ; admo- 
nishing some by gentle corrections to sin no more, lest a 
worse thing come unto them ; but crushing some by se- 
verer strokes, " that others may hear and fear, and do 
no more any such wickedness f." 

Still, however, it must be owned, that punishment 
does not always overtake the offender, either speedily or 
immediately ; and, therefore, I proceed to show, that, 
when this is the case, there are sufficient reasons for the 
delay. 

It is obvious, that every scheme, which comprehends 
a great variety of intentions and views, cannot permit 
all of them to be accomplished at once ; but some things, 
by no means to be omitted entirely, must, however, be 
postponed. Now such a complicated system is that of 
the government of the world, in which God may have 
many designs altogether unknown to us ; and of those, 
which we know best, we are far from being judges 
which it is right for him to prefer, whenever they hap- 
pen to interfere $. Offenders, whom we are impatient to 

* *< As malefectors, when they go to punishment, carry their 
own cross ; so wiekedness generally carries its own torment along 
with it, and is a most skilful artificer of its own miser}', filling the 
mind with terror, remorse, and the most agonizing reflection." 
— Hlut. ed. Xyiand, vol. ii, p. 554, A. 

t Dent, xiii, 11. 

i " It is as absurd for us to blame the gods for not punishing the 
wicked at the time and in the manner, which we think the fittest, 
as it would be for an ignorant clown to censure a physician for not 
administering the most efficacious med'cines to his patient at those 
times, which he, the said clown, judges to be the most proper." 
Pint. vol. ii, p. 549, F. 

Q 



170 LECTURE XIII. 

see punished as they deserve, he may see it expedient, 
for various reasons, to spare. One of these reasons is ' 
given in the parable before us. When the servants of 
the householder represented to him, that there was a 
great number of tares intermixed and growing up with 
the wheat, and asked whether they should not go and 
root them up ; his answer was, " Nay, lest, while ye 
gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat also with 
them." The meaning is, that, in the present imperfect 
scene of things, the virtuous and the wicked are so in- 
termingled and so connected with each other, that it is 
frequently impossible to punish the guilty without in- 
volving the innocent in their sufferings. In the case of 
sinful nations, or any large bodies of men, this is very 
apparent. It may happen, that a very considerable 
part of a great community may be guilty of the most 
enormous crimes of oppression, injustice, ambition, 
cruelty, murder, and impiety, and we are apt to call 
out for immediate and exemplary vengeance on such 
wretches as these. But if this vengeance was to be ex- 
ecuted in all its extent, if this people was to be extir- 
pated by fire and sword, or to be destroyed by famine, 
by pestilence, or earthquake, it is evident, that great 
numbers of innocent persons must perish in this general 
wreck, and that the wheat would be rooted up with the 
tares. Instead, therefore, of censuring the dispensations 
of the Almighty in these instances, we ought to praise 
and adore him for exercising his mercy when we should 
have no compassion, and for sparing the wicked, lest he 
should destroy the righteous. 

But though this reasoning may be allowed in the case 
of guilty nations, yet it may be thought not to hold good 
with respect to individuals. It may be alleged, that 
single offenders at least may be cut off, without doing 
any injury to the innocent or the virtuous. But is this 
a fact, which can at all times be safely assumed ? Is 
the criminal, whom you wish to see chastised, a per- 
fectly unconnected, solitary, and isolated being 1 Has 
he no wife or children, no relations, no dependents, no 
persons of any description, that look up to him for pro- 
tection, support, or assistance ? If he has, are you sure 
that all these persons are as worthless and as deserving 
of correction as himself? May they not, on the con- 
trary, be as eminent in virtue as he is in wickedness ; 
or, at the least, may they not be exempt from many of 



MATTHEW XIII. 171 

those flagrant sins, that call for immediate and exem- 
plary punishment ? If so, would you have these inno- 
cent, and perhaps excellent persons, involved in the 
ruin of the great delinquent, on whom they entirely de- 
pend ? Would you have the righteous Governor of the 
universe make no distinction in the infliction of his pu- 
nishments? Should we not rather adopt the pathetic 
language of Abraham, when he is pleading with the 
Almighty for Sodom and Gomorrah? " W T ilt thou slay 
the righteous with the wicked? That be far from thee. 
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right*?" You 
see, then, that there may be the best and most sub- 
stantial reasons for delaying the punishment of the 
wicked, both with respect to nations and individuals ; 
and that when we are rashly calling out for immediate 
vengeance, the Judge of all the earth is full of tender- 
ness and pity, and sees the best reasons for respiting 
even the most notorious offenders. 

But, besides this, there are other reasons for God's 
forbearance towards sinners. They are sometimes, as 
the prophet expresses it, " the rod of his anger t." He 
makes use of them as instruments to chastise each other, 
or to correct the faults of those, who are much better 
than themselves. And it frequently happens, that their 
punishment is only delayed till they have completely 
finished the work for which they were raised up, and 
that then they are made to justify the dispensations of 
the Almighty by the awful spectacle of a conspicuous 
and terrifying fall. 

To instance only the case of one notorious offender. 
That miscreant, Judas Iscariot, long before he betrayed 
his Master, gave proofs of a most depraved and corrupt 
disposition. He was entrusted with the little stock, that 
belonged in common to our Lord and the apostles ; he 
kept the bag, and he robbed it. This flagrant breach of 
trust certainly deserved the severest punishment : and 
no doubt the disciples secretly murmured in their hearts, 
and condemned their Divine Master for too great lenity 
towards so vile a wretch. But they knew not what he 
knew, that he was reserved for an important, though ne- 
farious purpose, and was to be the instrument of betray- 
ing the Saviour of the world into the hands of his mur- 
derers ; a deed for which his former crimes showed him 
to be perfectly well qualified. When this work of dark- 

* Gen. xviii, 25. t Isaiah x, 5. 



172 LECTURE XIII. 

ness was done, his doom was sealed, his punishment in- 
stantly followed ; and, what increased its bitterness, it 
was inflicted with his own hand. 

There is still another very important consideration, 
which may frequently occasion a delay in punishing even 
grievous offenders ; and that is, the goodness and long- 
suffering of God, who is not willing that any should 
perish, but that all should have time for repentance. 

He, who looks into the hearts of men, may see va- 
rious reasons for sparing those whom we would consign 
to immediate destruction. He may discern some good 
qualities in them which are unknown to us, some good 
dispositions and good principles, which have entirely 
escaped our observation. He may perceive, that they 
have been betrayed into the crimes they have committed, 
more by unfortunate circumstances, by error of judg- 
ment, by mistaken zeal, by wrong education, by the so- 
licitation and the influence of worthless companions, 
than by an incurable and inveterate depravity of heart. 
He may see, that, amidst a multitude of vile weeds, 
there are still some seeds of virtue remaining in their 
breasts, which, if duly cherished and fostered, and cul- 
tivated with care and tenderness, may produce most 
valuable fruits of righteousness. " He is unwilling 
therefore to break the bruised reed, or to quench the 
smoking flax*." He is unwilling to destroy what may 
still possibly be restored ; he is unwilling to extinguish, 
by severity, the faintest sparks of latent goodness. He 
sees, in short, that if they have time for reflection, if 
they have space for repentance, they will repent, and he 
graciously gives them a respite for that purpose t. 

* Matt, xii, 20. 

t " Those offenders whom the Deity knows to be absolutely in- 
curable, he destroys ; but to those in whom he discovers some good 
dispositions, and a probability of reformation, he gives time for 
amendment. Thus by immediate punishment he corrects a few, but 
by sometimes delaying it he recovers and reforms many." — Plut. vol. 
ii, p. 551, CD. 

To this may be added another fine observation of the same au- 
thor; that "God is sometimes slow in punishing the wicked, in 
order to teach us mortals a lesson of moderation ; to repress that 
vehemence and precipitation with which we are sometimes impelled 
to avenge ourselves on those that offend us, in the first heat of our 
passion, immediately and immoderately; and to induce us to imitate 
that mildness, patience, and forbearance, which he is often so mer- 
ciful as to exercise towards those that have incurred his displeasure," 
— P. 550, F. 



MATTHEW XIII. 173 

And shall we repine or murmur at this forbearance, 
this indulgence of God towards sinners ? Are not we 
ourselves all of us sinners, miserable sinners : and do we 
think that God treats us with too much indulgence? Is 
there any one here present who would be content that 
God should immediately, and without mercy, inflict on 
him the utmost punishment which his sins justly deserve? 
What, alas ! would become of the very best of us, if 
this was the case ; and who could abide these judg- 
ments of the Lord? And how then can we refuse to 
others that mercy, of which we stand so much in need 
ourselves ? 

It is evident, and we see it every day, that men who 
once were profligate have in time become eminently vir- 
tuous : and what pity would it have been if extreme or 
untimely severity had either suddenly cut them off, or 
hardened them in their wickedness ! Great minds are 
sometimes apt to fly out into excesses at their first out- 
set, but afterwards, upon reflection, and with proper 
culture, rise up to the practice of the noblest virtues. 
And it is mercy worthy of God to exercise, and which 
men instead of censuring ought to admire and adore, if 
he chooses the milder, though slower methods, with 
those who are capable of being reformed by them. These 
sentiments cannot be better illustrated than by the ex- 
ample of St. Paul. That illustrious apostle was, we 
know, once, as he himself confesses, " the chief of sin- 
ners ; " he was a fiery zealot, and a furious persecutor 
of the first Christians, breathing out continually threat- 
ening and slaughter against them, making havoc of the 
church, entering into every house, and haling men and 
women to prison ; and being, as he expresses it, exceed- 
ingly mad against them, he persecuted them unto strange 
cities, and when they were put to death, he gave his 
voice against them. In the eye of the Christian world, 
then, at that time, he must have been considered as one 
of the fittest objects of divine vengeance, as a persecutor 
and a murderer, who ought to be cut off in an instant 
from the face of the earth. 

But the great Discerner of hearts thought otherwise. 
He saw that all this cruelty, great as it undoubtedly was, 
arose, not from a disposition naturally savage and fe- 
rocious, but from ignorance, from early religious pre- 
judices, from misguided zeal, from a firm persuasion 

Q 3 



174 LECTURE XIII. 

that by these acts of severity against the first Christians 
he was doing God service. He saw, that this same fer- 
vour of mind, this excess of zeal, properly informed and 
properly directed, would make him a most active and 
able advocate of that very cause, which he had so vio- 
lently opposed. Instead, therefore, of an extraordinary 
act of power to destroy him, he visibly interposed to 
save him. He was in a miraculous manner converted 
to the Christian faith, and became the principal instru- 
ment of diffusing it through the world. We see, then, 
what baneful effects would sometimes arise from the 
immediate punishment even of notorious delinquents. 
It would in this case have deprived the Christian world 
of the abilities, the eloquence, the indefatigable and 
successful exertions of this learned and intrepid apostle, 
whose -conversion gave a strong additional evidence to 
the truth of the Gospel, and who laid down his life for 
the religion he had embraced. 

Yet notwithstanding all the reasons for sometimes de- 
laying the punishment of guilt in the present world, it 
cannot be denied, that there are some instances of pros- 
perous wickedness, which cannot well be accounted for 
by any of them ; and therefore, for a complete vindica- 
tion of the moral government of God, we must have re- 
course to the concluding part of the parable, which will 
give us the fullest satisfaction on this interesting subject. 
To the question of the servants, whether they should 
gather up the tares from the midst of the wheat, the 
householder answers, " Nay ; lest while ye gather up 
the tares ye root up the wheat also. Let both grow to- 
gether till the harvest ; and in the time of harvest I will 
say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares, and 
bind them in bundles to burn them ; but gather the 
wheat into my barn." The harvest, our Lord tells us in 
his explanation, is the end of the world, at which awful 
period the Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and 
they shall " gather, out of his kingdom all things that 
offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them 
into a furnace of fire ; there shall be weeping and 
gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth 
as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath 
ears to hear, let him hear*." 

* Matt, xiii, 41, 42, 43. 



MATTHEW XIII. 175 

Here, then, is the great master-key to the whole of this 
mysterious dispensation of Heaven. God, we see, has 
appointed a day when every deficiency in his adminis- 
tration shall be supplied, and every seeming dispropor- 
tion and inequality shall be rectified*. 

Even in this world it appears, that wickedness is pu- 
nished in some measure, and to a certain degree : and 
we have seen, that the interests of virtue itself, among 
other considerations, require that it should not be in- 
stantly punished to the full extent of its deserts. God 
is perpetually showing, even in the present life, his dif- 
ferent regard to right and wrong, by every such method 
as the constitution of the world which he has created 
admits ; and therefore, no sooner shall that world come 
to an end, and all obstacles to an equal administration 
of justice be taken out of the way, than he shall come 
to execute righteous judgment upon earth. 

" He is not slack as men count slackness \" that is, 
negligent and remiss ; he only waits for the proper sea- 
son of doing all that hitherto remains undone. Human 
weakness, indeed, by a small delay of punishing, may 
lose the power of doing it for ever. " But in the Lord 
Jehovah is everlasting strength;." Human inconstancy 
may be vehement and passionate at first ; then negli- 
gent and languid. The sense of an unworthy action, that 
does not injure us, quickly wears out of our mind ; and 
if we take no immediate notice of it, we shall possibly 
take none at all. But we must not think God to be such 
an one as ourselves. Eternity itself will make no change 
in his abhorrence of wickedness, nor will any thing either 
transport him to act before his appointed time, or pre- 
vail upon him to give a respite when that time comes. 
The sinners of the antediluvian world, abusing the long 
space of one hundred and twenty years which he al- 
lowed for their repentance, perished at the end of it 

* " As the soul survives the dissolution of the body," says the 
excellent Plutarch, " and exists after death, it is most probable that 
it will receive rewards and punishments in a future state; for it goes 
through a kind of contest during the present life, and when that is 
over, it will have its due recompence hereafter." — 561, A. 

How nearly does this approach to the doctrine of the Gospel, which 
had been promulgated nearly one hundred years before Plutarch 
wrote. But, thanks be to God, what this great man thought only 
probable, we have the happiness of knowing to be certain. 

t 2 Pet. iii, 9. $ Isaiah xxvi, 4. 



176 LECTURE XIII. 

without mercy. The angels, who fell from their first 
estate before this earth was created, he has reserved for 
torments, that shall not finally take place till it is con- 
sumed*. 

The same important period his infinite wisdom has 
marked out for the final judgment of men. And un- 
doubtedly it may produce advantages of unspeakable 
moment thus to defer justice, with a design of render- 
ing some chosen parts of duration memorable through- 
out the universe, by a more extensive and illustrious ex- 
ercise of it. For it must needs make an inconceivably 
strong and lasting impression upon every order of be- 
ings, that shall then be present at the solemn scene, to 
hear the final doom of a whole world pronounced at 
once , and to behold sins, that had been committed 
thousands of years before, punished with the same at- 
tention to every circumstance as if they had been but of 
yesterday. 

How far off these judgments of the Lord may be, we 
none of us know. But with regard to ourselves, they 
are near, they are even at the door. The few days we 
have to pass in this transient scene will determine our 
condition for ever, and bring us into an eternal state, 
compared with which the continuance of the present 
frame of nature, from its very beginning, will be as no- 
thing. Then every act of the government of God will 
be seen in its true light ; the imagined length of dis- 
tance between guilt and its punishment will totally dis- 
appear; and offenders will lament in vain that sentence 
is executed so speedily as it is against evil works. But 
with peculiar severity will it be executed on them, who, 
despising the riches of that goodness which would lead 
them to repentance, " treasure up for themselves wrath 
against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous 
judgment of Godt." 

Upon the whole, then, let not either the sinner triumph, 
or the virtuous repine, at the apparent impunity or even 
prosperity of the wicked in the present life. To the 
audacious sinner we apply those most apposite and most 
awful words of the son of Sirach : " Say not, who shall 
control me for my works? for the Lord will surely 
avenge thy pride. Say not, I have sinned, and what 
harm hath happened unto me 1 for the Lord is indeed 

* Jude 6; 2 Pet. ii, 4. t Rom. ii, 5. 



MATTHEW XIII. 177 

long-suffering, but he will in no wise let thee go. Say 
not, his mercy is great, he will be pacified for the mul- 
titude of my sins ; for both mercy and wrath come from 
him, and his indignation resteth upon sinners. Make, 
therefore, no tarrying to turn unto the Lord, and put not 
off from day to day ; for suddenly shall the wrath of the 
Lord come forth, and in thy security shalt thou be de- 
stroyed, and perish in the the day of vengeance*." 

To the religious and virtuous, on the other hand, we 
say, " Fret not thyself because of the ungodly, neither 
be thou envious against the evil doers. Hold thee still in 
the Lord, and abide patiently upon him j but grieve not 
thyself at him whose way doth prosper, against the man 
that doeth after evil counsels. Wicked doers shall be 
rooted out; and they that patiently abide the Lord, 
those shall inherit the landf. "Be patient, therefore, 
brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the 
husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, 
and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early 
and the latter rain. Be ye also patient ; for the coming 
of the Lord draweth night." 

It is not indeed always an easy task to exercise this 
patience, when we see conspicuous instances, either of 
individuals or of nations, notorious for their profligacy, 
triumphant and prosperous in all their ways. We can 
scarce repress our discontent, or forbear joining with the 
prophet in his expostulation with the Almighty, " Right- 
eous art thou, O Lord ! yet let me talk with thee of thy 
judgments : Why do the ways of the wicked prosper 1 
Wliy are they all happy that deal very treacherously § V 
To this we can now answer in the words of Job : 
" Knowest thou not this, since man was placed upon 
earth, that the triumphing of the wicked is short, and 
the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment 1 Though his 
excellency mount unto the heavens, and his head reach 
unto the clouds ; yet he shall perish for ever, and they 
that have seen him shall say, Where is he || 1 " 

In fact it has been proved, in the course of this in- 
quiry, that in such an immense and complicated system 
as that of the universe, there are many reasons which 
we can discern, and a thousand others perhaps totally- 
unknown to us, which render it necessary that the vir- 

* Ecclus. v, 3 — 7. t Psal. xxxvii, 7 — 9. % Jam. v, 7, 8, 
§ Jerem. xii, 1. Job. xx, 5, 6, 7. 



178 LECTURE XIII. 

tuous should suffer a temporary depression, and the 
wicked enjoy a temporary triumph. But let not these 
apparent irregularities dispirit or discourage us : for 
whenever the purposes of Providence in these mysterious 
dispensations shall have been accomplished, every dis- 
order shall be rectified, and every appearance of in- 
justice done away. The time and the season for doing 
this, God has reserved in his own power : and we must 
not presume to prescribe rules to the wisdom of the Al- 
mighty. To men excruciated with pain, every moment 
seems an age ; and to men groaning under oppression, 
their deliverance, if it come not instantly, may seem ex- 
tremely distant. But let them not despair : in due sea- 
son they shall reap, if they faint not. At the period 
marked out by infinite wisdom, and which it is their 
duty to await with patience, God shall cause his judg- 
ment to be heard from heaven, and the earth shall 
tremble and be still. He shall then demonstrate to the 
whole world, " that his hand is not shortened that it 
cannot redeem, and that he still retains the power to 
save*." He shall prove, in a manner the most awful 
and most satisfactory, " that verily there is a reward 
for the righteous, and a puishment for the wicked ; that 
doubtless there is a God that judgeth the earth t." 

* Isaiah lix, 1 , t Psalm lviii, 1 i . 



LECTURE XIV. 



MATTHEW XIV. 

We are now, in the course of these Lectures, arrived at 
the fourteenth chapter of St. Matthew, which begins in 
the following manner : — 

" At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame 
of Jesus ; and he said unto his servants, This is John the 
Baptist : he is risen from the dead, and therefore mighty- 
works do show forth themselves in him. For Herod had 
laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison 
for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife : for John 
said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. 
And when he would have put him to death, he feared 
the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. 
But when Herod's birth day was kept, the daughter of 
Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod ; 
whereupon he promised, with an oath, that he would give 
her whatsoever she would ask ; and she, being before 
instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's 
head in a charger. And the king was sorry ; never- 
theless, for the oath's sake, and them which sat with him 
at meat, he commanded it to be given her; and he sent, 
and beheaded John in the prison; and his head was 
brought in a charger, and given to the damsel ; and she 
brought it to her mother. And his disciples came, and 
took up the body, and buried it, and went and told 
Jesus." 

Before we enter upon this remarkable and affecting 
narrative of the murder of John the Baptist by Herod, 
it will be proper to take notice of the two first verses of 
this chapter, which gave occasion to the introduction of 
that transaction in this place, although it had happened 
some time before. 



180 LECTURE XIV. 

"At that time," says the evangelist, " Herod the te- 
trarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and he said unto his 
servants, This is John the Baptist : he is risen from the 
dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth them- 
selves in him." 

It is not easy to meet with a more striking instance 
than this of the force of conscience over a guilty mind, 
or a stronger proof how perpetually it goads the sinner, 
not only with well-grounded fears and apprehensions of 
impending punishment and vengeance, but with ima- 
ginary terrors and visionary dangers. 

No sooner did the fame of Jesus reach the ears of the 
tyrant Herod, than it immediately occurred to his mind, 
that he had himself, not long before, most cruelly and 
wantonly put to death an innocent, virtuous, and holy 
man, whose reputation for wisdom, integrity, and sanc- 
tity of manners, stood almost as high in the estimation 
of the world as that of Jesus ; and who had even de- 
clared himself the herald and the forerunner of that ex- 
traordinary person. This instantly suggested to him an 
idea the most extravagant that could be imagined, that 
this very person, who assumed the name of Jesus, was in 
fact no other than John the Baptist himself, whom he had 
beheaded, and who was now risen from the dead, and 
was endowed with the power of working miracles, 
though he never performed any when living. 

It is evident, that nothing could be more improbable 
and absurd than these suppositions, nothing more con- 
trary even to his own principles ; for there is reason to 
believe, that Herod, like mOst other people of high rank 
at that time, was of the sect called the Sadducees, a sect 
which rejected the immortality of the soul, and the doc- 
trine of a resurrection, and must therefore be perfectly 
adverse to the strange imagination of John the Baptist 
being risen from the dead. Yet the fears of Herod over- 
ruled all the prejudices of his sect, and raised up before 
his eyes the semblance of the murdered Baptist, armed 
with the power of miracles, for the very purpose (he 
perhaps imagined) of inflicting exemplary vengeance 
upon him for that atrocious deed, as well as for his 
adultery, his incest, and all his other crimes ; which now 
probably presented themselves in their most hideous 
forms to his terrified imagination, pursued him into his 
most secret retirements, and tortured his breast with un- 
ceasing agonies. 



MATTHEW XIV. 181 

The evangelist, having thus introduced the mention of 
John the Baptist, goes back a little in his narrative, to 
make the reader acquainted with that part of the Bap- 
list's history, which brought down upon him the indig- 
nation of Herod, and was the occasion of his death. 

This flagitious prince had, it seems, in the face of day, 
and in defiance of all laws, human and divine, com- 
mitted the complicated crime of adultery and incest, at- 
tended with every circumstance that could mark an 
abandoned and unprincipled mind. 

He had been married a considerable time to the 
daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia Petraea, but con- 
ceiving a violent passion for his brother Philip's wife, 
Herodias, he first seduced her affections from her hus- 
band, then dismissed his own wife, and married Hero- 
dias, during the life-time of his brother. It was im- 
possible that such portentous wickedness as this could 
escape the observation or the reproof of the holy Baptist. 
He had the honesty and the courage to reproach the 
tyrant with the enormity of his guilt, although he could 
not be ignorant of the danger he incurred by such a 
measure ; but he determined to do his duty, and to take 
the consequences. The consequences were, " that Herod 
laid hold of John, and bound him, and threw him into 
prison*." And undoubtedly his wish was to have put 
him immediately to death, but he was restrained by two 
considerations. The first was, because John was held 
in such high esteem and veneration by all the people, 
that, had any violence been offered to him by Herod, he 
was apprehensive that it might have occasioned a general 
insurrection against his government ; for we are informed 
by St. Matthew, that, " he feared the multitude, be- 
cause they counted John as a prophet t." 

The other reason was, that although he felt the ut- 
most indignation and resentment against John for the 
freedom he had used in reproaching him for his licen- 
tious conduct, yet at the same time the character of that 
excellent man, his piety, his sanctity, his integrity, his 
disinterestedness, nay, even the courage which had so 
much offended and provoked him, commanded his re- 
spect and veneration, and excited his fears ; for we are 
told expressly that Herod feared John, knowing he was 
a just man and an holy $. Nor is this all : he not only 

* Mutt, xiv, 8. f Matt, xiv, 5. f Mark vi, 20. 



182 LECTURE XIV. 

feared John, but in some degree paid court to him. He 
frequently sent for him out of prison, and conversed with 
him, and, as the evangelist expresses it, observed him ; 
that is, listened to him with attention and with pleasure ; 
nay, he went farther still, he did many things, many 
things which John exhorted and enjoined him to do*. 
He, perhaps, showed more attention to many of his public 
duties, more gentleness to his subjects, more compassion 
to the poor, more equity in his judicial determinations, 
more regard to public worship : and vainly hoped, per- 
haps, like many other audacious sinners, that this partial 
reformation, this half-way amendment, would avert the 
judgments with which John probably threatened him. 
But the main point, the great object of John's repre- 
hension, the incestuous adultery in which he lived, that 
he could not part with ; it was too precious, too favourite 
a sin to give up ; too great a sacrifice to make to con- 
science and to God. 

What a picture does this hold out to us of that strange 
thing called human nature, of that inconsistence, that 
contradiction, that contrariety, which sometimes take 
place in the heart of man, unsanctified and unsubdued 
by the power of divine grace ! and what an exalted idea, 
at the same time, does it give us of the dignity of a truly 
religious character, like that of John, which compels 
even its bitterest enemies to reverence and to fear it ; 
and forces even the most profligate and most powerful of 
men to pay an unwilling homage to excellence, at the 
very moment, perhaps, when they are meditating its de- 
struction ! 

In this state of irresolution Herod might probably 
have continued, and the fate of John have remained un- 
decided for a considerable time, had not an incident 
taken place, which determined both much sooner, per- 
haps, than was intended. Herod, on his birth-bay, gave 
an entertainment to the principal officers of his army 
and of his court ; and as a peculiar and very uncommon 
compliment on the occasion, Salome, the daughter of 
his wife Herodias by her former husband, came in 
and danced before the company, in a manner so pleasing 
to Herod and to all his guests, that the king, in a sudden 
transport of delight, cried out to the damsel, as St. Mark 
relates it, " Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will 

* Mark vi, 20. 



MATTHEW XIV. 183 

give it thee." And he sware unto her, M Whatsoever 
thou shalt ask of me I will give it thee, even unto the 
half of my kingdom*." The folly, the rashness, and the 
madness of such an oath as this, on so foolish an occa- 
sion, could be exceeded by nothing but the horrible pur- 
pose to which it was perverted by the young creature to 
whom it was made, or rather by her profligate instructor 
and adviser, her mother Herodias. Astonished and 
overwhelmed probably with the magnitude of such an 
unexpected offer, which laid at her feet half the wealth, 
the power, and the splendour of a kingdom, she found 
herself unable to decide between the various dazzling 
objects that would present themselves to her imagination, 
and therefore very naturally applies to her mother for 
advice and direction. Most mothers, on such an occa- 
sion, would have asked for a daughter a magnificent es- 
tablishment, a situation of high rank and power. But 
Herodias had a passion to gratify, stronger perhaps than 
any other, when it takes full possession of the human 
heart, and that was revenge. She had been mortally 
injured, as she conceived, by the Baptist, who had at- 
tempted to dissolve her present infamous connection with 
Herod. And she not only felt the highest indignation at 
this insult, but was afraid that his repeated remon- 
strances might at length prevail. She therefore did not 
hesitate one moment what to ask ; she gave way to all 
the fury of her resentment ; and without the least re- 
gard to the character or the delicate situation of her in- 
experienced daughter, she immediately ordered her to 
demand the head of her detested enemy, John the Bap- 
tist ! The wretched young woman unfortunately obeyed 
this dreadful command ; and, as we are told by the 
evangelist, " came in straightway with haste unto the 
kingt." She came with speed in her steps, and eager- 
ness in her eye, and said, " Give me here John the 
Baptist's head in a charger." This savage request ap- 
palled even the unfeeling heart of Herod himielf . He 
did not expect it, and was not prepared for it ; and al- 
though he was highly disgusted with John, yet, for the 
reasons above mentioned, he did not choose to go to ex- 
tremities with him. He was therefore, " exceeding 
sorry/' as the sacred historian informs us, to be thus 
forced upon so violent and hazardous a measure ; " never- 

* Mark vi, 22, 23. t Mark vi, 25 ; Matt.xiv, 8. 



184 LECTURE XIV. 

theless for his oath's sake, and them which sat with him 
at meat, he commanded it to be given to her." Con- 
ceiving himself, most absurdly, bound by his oath, to 
comply even with this inhuman demand, and afraid lest 
he should be reproached by those that were around him 
with having broken his promise, he preferred the real 
guilt of murder to the false imputation of perjury, and 
if sent and beheaded John in prison ; and his head was 
brought in a charger, and given to the damsel, and she 
brought it to her mother." It is well known, that it was 
a custom in the East, and is so still in the Turkish court, 
to produce the heads of those that are ordered to be put 
to death, as a proof that they have been really executed. 
But how this wretched damsel could so far subdue the 
common feelings of human nature, and still more the 
natural tenderness and delicacy of her sex, as not only to 
endure so disgusting and shocking a spectacle, but even 
to carry the bleeding trophy in triumph to her mother, it 
is not easy to imagine ; and it would scarce be credited, 
did we not know, that in times and in countries much 
nearer to our own, sights of still greater horror than this 
have been contemplated, even by women and children, 
with complacency and with delight. 

Such was the conclusion of this singular transaction ; 
and every part of it is so pregnant with useful instruction 
and admonition, that I shall stand excused, I hope, if I 
take up a little more of your time than is usual in dis- 
courses of this nature, in commenting somewhat at large 
on the conduct and characters of the several actors in 
this dreadful tragedy. 

And, in the first place, there can be no doubt, that the 
most guilty and the most unpardonable of all the parties 
concerned in this murder of an innocent and excellent 
man, was the abandoned Herodias. For it was she, 
whose indignation against John was carried to the 
greatest length, and in the end effected his ruin. It was 
she, who was continually importuning and urging Herod 
to put the Baptist to death, from which, for a con- 
siderable time, his fears restrained him. It was she, who, 
as St. Mark expresses it, " had a quarrel against John, 
and would have killed him, but she could not*." The 
words translated, had a quarrel against him, have in the 
original much greater force and energy, IveT^ev ocutw. 

* Mark vi, 19. 



MATTHEW XIV. 185 

She, as it were, fastened and hung upon John, and was 
determined not to let go her hold till she had destroyed 
him*. 

We here see a fatal proof of the extreme barbarities 
to which that most diabolical sentiment of revenge will 
drive the natural tenderness even of a female mind ; 
what a close connection there is between crimes of ap- 
parently a very different complexion ;. and how frequently 
the uncontrolled indulgence of what are called the softer 
affections lead ultimately to the most violent excesses 
of the malignant passions. The voluptuary generally 
piques himself on his benevolence, his humanity, and 
gentleness of disposition. His claim even to these vir- 
tues is at the best very problematical ; because, in his 
pursuit of pleasure, he makes no scruple of sacrificing 
the peace, the comfort, the happiness of those for whom 
he pretends the tenderest affection, to the gratification of 
his own selfish desires. But however he may preserve 
his good humour, when he meets with no resistance, the 
moment he is thwarted and opposed in his flagitious 
purposes, he has no hesitation in going any lengths to 
gain his point, and will fight his way to the object he has 
in view through the heart of the very best friend he has 
in the world. The same thing we see, in a still more 
striking point of view, in the conduct of Herodias. She 
was at first only a bold, unprincipled libertine, and might 
perhaps be admired and celebrated, as many others 
of that description have been, for her good temper, her 
sensibility, her generosity to the poor ; and with this 
character she might have gone, out of the world, had no 
such person as John arisen to reprove her and her hus- 
band for their profligacy, and to endanger the con- 
tinuance of her guilty commerce. But no sooner does 
he rebuke them as they deserved, than Herodias showed 
that she had other passions to indulge besides those 
which had hitherto disgraced her character ; and that, 
when she found it necessary to her pleasures, she could 
be as cruel as she had been licentious ; could contrive 
and accomplish the destruction of a great and good man, 
could feast her eyes with the sight of his mangled head in a 
charger, could even make her own poor child the instru- 

* Hesychius explains evsyei by eyxetreu, sticks close to, in 
hatred or spite. Doddridge give's still greater force to the expression; 
but Parkhurst does not allow it. 

R 3 



186 LECTURE XIV. 

merit of her vengeance, and, as I am inclined to think, a 
reluctant accomplice in a most atrocious murder. 

Here is a most awful lesson held out, not only to the 
female sex, but to both sexes, to persons of all ages and 
conditions, to beware of giving way to any one evil pro- 
pensity in their nature, however it may be disguised 
under popular names, however indulgently it may be 
treated by the world, however it may be authorized by 
the general practice of mankind ; because they here see, 
that they may not only be led into the grossest extrava- 
gances of that individual passion, but may also be insen- 
sibly betrayed into the commission of crimes of the 
deepest dye, which in their serious moments they always 
contemplated with the utmost horror. 

Let us now take our leave of this wretched woman, 
and turn our attention for a moment to her unhappy 
daughter. Here undoubtedly there is much to blame, 
but there is also something to pity and to lament. Her 
youth, her inexperience, her unfortunate situation in a 
most corrupt court, the vile example that was constantly 
before her eyes, the influence, the authority, the com- 
mands of a profligate mother, these are circumstances 
that plead powerfully for compassion, and tend in some 
degree to mitigate her guilt. Her first fault evidently 
was that gross violation of all decorum, and all custom 
too, in appearing and dancing publicly before Herod 
and a large number of his friends, assembled at a festive 
meeting, and perhaps half intoxicated with wine. But 
it is not probable, that a young woman of high rank, 
and so very tender an age as she seems to have been, 
should have voluntarily taken such a step as this, or 
should have been able to subdue at once all the modesty 
and the timidity of her sex, and acquire courage enough 
to encounter the eyes and the observations of so licen- 
tious an assembly. There can be little doubt, that she 
was wrought upon by the persuasions of her artful mo- 
ther, who flattered herself, that this artifice might pro- 
duce some such effect in the mind of Herod as actually 
followed. What adds great weight to this conjecture is, 
that her next dreadful transgression, her singular and 
sanguinary request to have the head of John the Baptist 
presented to her, was unquestionably the suggestion of 
the abandoned Herodias. 

The sacred historian expressly informs us, that it was 
in consequence of being before instructed of her mother, 



MATTHEW XIV. 187 

that she made this demand. Nor is this all : there is 
great reason to believe, that it was with the utmost dif- 
ficulty she was prevailed on to comply with the injunc- 
tions that were given her ; for the original words, 
Trgo§&a.<rQii7a. vno Trig /uriTgog, which we translate " be- 
fore instructed of her mother," more strictly signify 
being wrought upon, instigated, and impelled by her mo- 
ther ; for this is the sense in which that expression is 
used by the best Greek writers. 

This supposition receives no small confirmation from 
the manner in which she is represented by the evangelist 
as delivering her answer to Herod. " She came straight- 
way with haste unto the king;" she betrayed on her 
return the utmost emotion and agitation of mind. She 
had worked herself up to a resolution of obeying her 
mother, and was in haste to execute her commission, 
lest, if any pause had intervened, her heart should re- 
lent, her spirits fail her, and she should not have courage 
to utter the dreadful demand she had to make. 

All this seems to imply great reluctance on her part, 
and is evidently a considerable alleviation of her crime ; 
yet does by no means exempt her from all guilt. For 
although obedience to parents is a very sacred duty, yet 
there is another duty superior to it, that which we owe 
to our Maker. And whenever even a parent would 
incite us to any thing plainly repugnant to his laws, as 
was the case in the present instance, we must, though 
with all possible decency and respect, yet with firmness 
and with courage, resist the impious command, and de- 
clare it to be our decided resolution " to obey God rather 
than man." 

The next person that claims our notice in this interest- 
ing narrative is Herod himself. We have already seen 
his inconsistent and undecided conduct respecting John. 
He had in a moment of exasperation thrown him into 
prison ; but from a respect to his character, and fear of 
the consequences if he offered him any farther violence, 
he suffered him to remain unmolested, and even fre- 
quently admitted him to his presence, and held conver- 
sations with him. And it is not improbable, that after 
some time his resentment might have subsided, and he 
might have released his prisoner. But when once a 
man has involved himself deeply in guilt, he has no safe 
ground to stand upon. Every thing is unsound and 
rotten under his feet. He cannot say, " So far will I go 
in wickedness, and no farther." The crimes he has al- 



188 LECTURE XIV. 

ready committed may have an unseen connection with 
others, of which he has not the slightest suspicion ; and 
he may be hurried, when he least intends it, into enor- 
mities, of which he once thought himself utterly incapa- 
ble. This was the case in the present instance. When 
Herod first engaged in his guilty intercourse with Hero- 
dias, he probably meant to go no farther. He meant to 
content himself with adultery and incest, and had no 
intention of adding murder to the black catalogue of his 
crimes. He had no other view but the gratification of a 
present passion, and did not look forward to the many 
evils, which scarcely ever fail to arise from a criminal 
connection with a profligate and artful woman. This 
was the original and fruitful source of all his future 
crimes and future misfortunes. He flattered himself, 
that, notwithstanding his marriage with Herodias, he 
should still be master of his own resolutions and his 
own actions. But Herodias soon taught him a different 
lesson. She showed that she understood him much bet- 
ter than he did himself. She convinced him, that his 
destiny was in her hands ; that she held the secret wire 
that governed all his motions ; and that she could, by 
one means or other, bend his mind to any purpose which 
she was determined to accomplish. It was his intention 
to save John the Baptist. It was her intention to destroy 
him, and she did it. He had, indeed, the courage to 
resist her repeated solicitations, that he would put John 
to death ; and he piqued himself, probably, on the firm- 
ness of his resolution. But Herodias was not of a tem- 
per to be discouraged by a few denials or repulses. She 
knew that there were other more effectual ways of car- 
rying her point. If the king could not be compelled to 
surrender by assault, he might be taken by stratagem 
and surprise. And to this she had recourse. She saw, 
that her daughter had attractions and accomplishments, 
which might be turned to good account, which might be 
made to operate most powerfully on such a mind as 
Herod's. 

She therefore, as we have already seen, planned the 
project of her dancing before him on the festival of his 
birth- day, in the hope, that in the unguarded moments 
of convivial mirth he might be betrayed into some con- 
cession, some act of indulgence towards this favourite 
daughter, from which he could not easily recede. The 
plan succeeded, even probably beyond her expectations. 
The monarch was caught in the snare that was laid for 



MATTHEW XIV. 189 

him. He made a rash promise to Salome, and confirmed 
that promise by an oath, that he would give her what- 
soever she would ask. And when, to his infinite asto- 
nishment and grief, she demanded the life of the man 
whom he wished to save, instead of retreating by the 
only way he had left, that of retracting a promise, which 
it was madness to make, and the extremity of wicked- 
ness to perform, he was induced by a false point of 
honour (as worthless men frequently are) to commit an 
atrocious murder rather than violate a rash oath; an 
oath which could never make that right which was be- 
fore intrinsically wrong, which could never bind him to 
any thing in itself unlawful, much less to the most un- 
lawful of all things, the destruction of an innocent and 
virtuous man. 

I have entered thus minutely into the detail of this 
remarkable transaction, because, as I have before re- 
marked, every line of it is replete with the most import- 
ant instruction ; as, indeed, is the case with every part 
of the sacred history in the Gospel and the Acts, which 
teach full as much by the facts they relate as by the pre- 
cepts they inculcate. The moral lessons to be drawn 
from the passage before us I have already pointed out in 
some degree as I went along ; but there are one or two 
of a more general import, which I shall briefly add in 
conclusion, and which well deserve your very serious at- 
tention. * 

The first is, that in the conduct of life there is nothing 
more to be dreaded and avoided, nothing more danger- 
ous to our peace, to our comfort, to our character, to our 
welfare here and hereafter, than a criminal attachment 
to an abandoned and unprincipled woman, more parti- 
cularly in the early period of life. It has been the 
source of more misery, and, besides all the guilt which 
naturally belongs to it, has led to the commission of 
more and greater crimes than perhaps any other single 
cause that can be named. We have seen into what a 
gulf of sin and suffering it plunged the wretched Herod. 
He began with adultery, and he ended with murder, and 
with the total ruin of himself, his kingdom, and all the 
vile partners of his guilt. The same has happened in a 
thousand other instances ; and there are, I am per- 
suaded, few persons here present, of any age or experi- 
ence in the world, who cannot recollect numbers, both 
of individuals and of families, whose peace, tranquillity, 
comfort, characters, and fortunes, have been completely 



190 LECTURE XIV. 

destroyed by illicit and licentious connections of this 
sort. Nor is this the worst. The present effects of these 
vices, dreadful as they sometimes are, cannot be com- 
pared with the misery, which they are preparing for us 
hereafter. The Scriptures everywhere rank these vices 
in the number of those presumptuous sins, which, in a 
future life, will experience the severest marks of Divine 
displeasure. The world, indeed, treats them with more 
indulgence. They are excused and palliated, and even 
defended, on the ground of human frailty, of natural 
constitution, of strong passions, and invincible tempta- 
tions ; and they are generally considered and repre- 
sented, in various popular performances (especially in 
those imported from foreign countries), as associated 
with many amiable virtues, with goodness of heart, with 
high principles of honour, with benevolence, compassion, 
humanity, and generosity. But whatever gentle names 
may be given to sensuality and licentiousness, whatever 
specious apologies may be made for them, whatever wit 
or talents may be employed in rendering them popular 
and fashionable, whatever numbers, whatever examples 
may sanction or authorize them, it is impossible that any 
thing can do away their natural turpitude and deformity, 
or avert those punishments which the Gospel has de- 
nounced against them. They are represented there as 
things that ought not even to be named among Chris- 
tians, as defiling the man, as warring against the soul, 
as grieving the Spirit of God, as rendering men incapable 
of inheriting the kingdom of heaven, as exposing them 
to the indignation of him, who is of purer eyes than to 
behold iniquity *. And as if men had endeavoured in 
those days, as well as in our own, to soften, and exte- 
nuate, and explain away the guilt of licentiousness, the 
apostle adds, with great solemnity and great earnestness, 
" let no man deceive you with vain words ; for because 
of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the chil- 
dren of disobedience t." 

Let every man, then, that pretends to be a Christian, 
and lives in the habitual practice of the vices here con- 
demned, weigh well these tremendous words. If there 
be any truth in the Gospel, they will not be vain words ; 
nor will offences of this nature ever pass unnoticed or 
unpunished by the righteous Governor of the world. 

* Ephes. v, 3; Matt, xv, 18; 1 Pet. ii, 11 ; 1 Cor. vi, 9, 10; Ha- 
bak. i, 13. t Ephes. v, 6. 



MATTHEW XIV. 191 

These remarks are not introduced here without reason. 
It is the peculiar prevalence of these very vices at this 
moment, which demands such animadversions as these ; 
a prevalence, which I infer, not merely from an imagi- 
nary estimate of the low state of morals amongst us, 
founded on rumour, on conjecture, or misconstruction, 
but from facts too well ascertained, and which obtrude 
themselves on the notice of every observing mind*. I 
mean those daring violations of the nuptial contract, and 
the frequent divorces resulting from them, which seem 
daily gaining ground in this kingdom. This is a most 
melancholy and incontrovertible proof of increasing 
depravity amongst us, and, I am sorry to add, of depra- 
vity of the very deepest dye ; for instances have not long 
since occurred, in which the guilt of the parties too 
nearly resembled that of Herod, combining the two atro- 
cious crimes of adultery and incest ! Surely such enor- 
mities as these are enough to make us tremble, and 
loudly call for the interposition of the legislature, lest 
they bring down upon us the just vengeance of an of- 
fended God. " Shall I not visit for these things'? saith 
the Lord : shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation 
as this ft" 

Another reflection arising from this short history of 
Herod and John the Baptist is this : that although, in 
the ordinary course of Divine administrations, the pu- 
nishment of the wicked does not always overtake them 
here, but is reserved for the last awful day of account ; 
yet it sometimes happens (as I observed in my last Lec- 
ture), that their crimes draw after them their just re- 
compense, even in the present life. This was eminently 
the case of the flagitious Herod ; for besides those terrors 
of conscience, which, as we have seen, perpetually 
haunted him, which raised up before him terrific forms 
and agonizing apprehensions, and represented John the 
Baptist as risen from the dead to avenge his crimes, we 
are informed by the historian Josephus, that his marriage 
with Herodias drew upon him the resentment of Aretas, 
king of Arabia Petraea, the father of his first wife, who 
declared war against him, and, in an engagement with 
Herod's army, defeated it with great slaughter. This, 
says the historian, the Jews considered as a just judg- 
ment of God upon Herod for his murder of John the 
Baptist J. And, not long after this, both he and Hero- 
* In the spring of the year ] 800. f Jer. v, 9. 

t Jos. Ant, lib. xviii, cap. v, sect, i, ii. 



192 LECTURE XIV. 

dias were deprived of their kingdom by the Roman em- 
peror, and sent into perpetual banishment. And it is 
added by another historian*, that their daughter Salome 
met with a violent and untimely death. Instances like 
this are intended to show, that the Governor of the 
universe, though he has appointed a distant period for 
the general distribution of his rewards and punishments, 
yet, in extraordinary cases, he will sometimes interpose 
to chastise the bold offender, to assert his superintend- 
ing providence and supreme dominion over all his 
creatures, and to give them the most awful proofs, that, 
from his all-searching eye, no wickedness can be con- 
cealed. 

The remaining part of this chapter is occupied with 
the recital of two miracles, on which I have only to ob- 
serve, that they have both of them a spiritual as well as 
a literal meaning, are both of a very extraordinary na- 
ture, and calculated to make, as they did, a most power- 
ful impression on the minds of the spectators : these 
were, the feeding above five thousand persons with five 
loaves and two fishes, and our Saviour's walking on the 
sea. The first of these had a reference to that spiritual 
food, that celestial manna, that bread of life, which our 
Lord was then dispensing in such abundance to those 
that hungered and thirsted after righteousness. The 
other was meant to encourage the great principle of 
faith ; of trust and reliance upon God, in opposition to 
that self-confidence, that high opinion of our own strength, 
which we are too apt to entertain, and to which St. Pe- 
ter, above all the other apostles, was peculiarly liable. 
When, therefore, in consequence of his own request, he 
was permitted to go to Jesus on the water, and, forget- 
ting immediately who was his guide and support, began 
to be afraid and to sink, and called out to his Divine 
Master to save him, our Lord graciously stretched forth 
his hand and caught him, and said unto him, " O thou of 
little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt V* A reproof 
well calculated to convince him, that it was not in pro- 
portion to his own natural strength, but according to the 
degree of his faith, that he must rise or sink. And what 
he says to Peter he says to all, who waver in their belief, 
M O ye of little faith, why do you doubt V 

But there is another circumstance belonging to these 
miracles, which is of great importance ; they are very 

* Nicephori Hist. Eccles, lib. xi, p. S9. 



MATTHEW XIV. 193 

extraordinary and astonishing instances of our Lord's 
power over nature, and of such a kind as to admit of no 
possibility of being counterfeited. And accordingly we 
find, that although some cheats have pretended to cure 
diseases miraculously, and some have even attempted 
to raise the dead, yet no impostor, I believe, has ever 
yet been so bold as to undertake to feed five thousand 
people at once with five loaves and two fishes, or to walk 
upon the sea. And the reason is plain : it would not be 
very easy to persuade five thousand people that they had 
been plentifully fed, when in fact they had received no 
nourishment at all ; and it would be rather too dangerous 
an experiment for any man, not really supported by the 
hand of God, to attempt walking on the sea, when he 
cannot but know, that the loss of life must be the ine- 
vitable consequence of it. Indeed this aet has always 
been considered as utterly beyond all human power to 
achieve ; accordingly two feet walking upon water was an 
Egyptian hieroglyphic to denote impossibility. And Job 
represents the power of treading on the leaves of the sea 
as a distinguished mark and attribute of the Deity *. Yet 
this did Jesus do ; this impossibility did he accomplish : 
a most incontestable proof that God was with him. And 
in fact this miracle seems to have made a stronger im- 
pression on the minds of his disciples than any other 
recorded in the Gospels, even than that of raising the 
dead ; for we are told in St. Markt, that when our Lord 
went up into the ship, from walking on the sea, the disci- 
ples were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and 
wondered. The words in the original are still stronger ; 
indeed so strong, that it is impossible for the English 
language to express all their force. In comparison of 
this miracle, even that of the loaves and fishes seems to 
have appeared nothing in the eyes of the disciples ; for 
St. Mark tells us, they considered not the miracle of the 
loaves, for their heart was hardened ; but at the act of 
walking on the sea they were amazed beyond measure ; 
they were overwhelmed and overcome with this astonish- 
ing display of divine power ; they fell instantly at the 
feet of Jesus, and worshipped him ; and exclaimed, as 
every one who considers this stupendous miracle must 
do, " Of a truth thou art the Son of God ! " 

* Job ix, 8. t Chap. vi. 

S 



LECTURE XV. 



MATTHEW XVII. 

I shall now request your attention to a very remarkable 
part of our Saviour's history, that which is called by the 
evangelists his transfiguration, and which is related 
in the seventeenth chapter of St. Matthew. It so hap- 
pens, that many years ago I turned my thoughts very 
much to this particular subject in the sacred writings, 
and ventured (though without my name) to lay my sen- 
timents concerning it before the public. I could have 
wished, therefore, to have excused myself from repeat- 
ing here any part of what I have said elsewhere, and to 
have passed over this incident unnoticed. But when I 
considered, that this transaction is of a very peculiar 
and extraordinary nature ; that there are circumstances 
attending it, which cannot fail to excite the curiosity of 
an inquisitive mind ; that there are difficulties in it, 
which stand in need of a solution, and conclusions to be 
drawn from it of considerable utility and importance ; 
when I considered farther, that much the greatest part 
of this audience had probably never seen or ever" heard 
of what I had formerly written on this subject ; I de- 
termined not to omit so material a part of the task I am 
engaged in, but to give you what I conceive to be the 
true explanation of this interesting event. And I now 
feel the less difficulty in doing this, because, upon a 
careful review of that interpretation, after an interval of 
twelve years, I am still convinced of its truth, and have 
had the additional satisfaction of finding it confirmed by 
the authority of some learned and judicious commenta- 
tors, whose opinions on one or two leading principles 
coincide with my own ; but whose observations I had 
not seen (having consulted but very few expositors on 
the subject) when my essay went to the press. 



MATTHEW XVII. 195 

The relation of this singular transaction is given us by 
three out of four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, 
and alluded to in the writings of the fourth. They all 
agree in the main points. There is no material varia- 
tion, and not the least contradiction between them. 
But, as it is very natural, where different persons relate 
the same fact (and as indeed must generally happen 
where the story is not concerted among them), a few 
particulars are taken notice of by some, which are passed 
over in silence by others. Saint Matthew's account of 
it is as follows : — 

" And, after six days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and 
John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high 
mountain apart, and was transfigured before them ; and 
his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white 
as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them 
Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered 
Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be 
here : if thou wilt, let us make three tabernacles, one 
for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While 
he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed 
them ; and, behold, a voice out of the cloud, which 
said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased : hear ye him. And when the disciples heard 
it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And 
Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be 
not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, 
they saw no man, save Jesus only. And as they came 
down from the mount, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell 
the vision to no man, until the Son of Man be risen 
again from the dead. 

" And his disciples asked him, saying, W r hy then say 
the scribes, that Elias must first come 1 And Jesus 
answered and said unto them, Elias shall truly first come, 
and restore all things. But I say unto you, that Elias is 
come already, and they knew him not, but have done 
unto him whatsoever they listed : likewise also shall the 
Son of Man suffer of them. Then the disciples under- 
stood, that he spake unto them of John the Baptist." 

Such is the history, which the evangelist gives us of 
the transfiguration ; and, on the very first view of it, 
every one must see, that a transaction of so uncommon 
and splendid a nature could not be intended merely to 
surprise and amuse the disciples. There must have been 



196 LECTURE XV. 

some great object in view; some end to be obtained, 
worthy of the magnificent apparatus made use of to ac- 
complish it. 

Now there were, I conceive (besides some collateral 
and subordinate designs), two principal and important 
purposes, which were meant to be answered by this il- 
lustrious scene. 

The first was, to set before the eyes of the disciples a 
visible and figurative representation of Christ's coming in 
glory to judge the world, and to reward with everlasting 
felicity all his faithful servants. 

In order to prove this, and at the same time to bring to 
the reader's view those circumstances, which preceded, 
and in some degree gave occasion to the celestial vision, it 
will be necessary to look back to the chapter immediately 
before that in which the transfiguration is related. 

In the twenty-first verse of the sixteenth chapter we 
find, that Jesus then, for the first time, thought fit to 
give some intimations to his disciples of the strange and 
extraordinary scenes he was soon to pass through ; his 
sufferings, his death, and his resurrection; things of 
which, before this declaration, they seem not to have 
had the smallest conception or suspicion. 

" From that time forth began Jesus to show to his dis- 
ciples how that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer 
many things of the elders, and chief priests, and scribes, 
and be killed, and be raised again the third day*." 

The information, so perfectly new and unexpected to 
the disciples, and so destructive of all the fond hopes 
they had hitherto indulged, overwhelmed them with 
astonishment and grief. And St. Peter, whose natural 
warmth and eagerness of temper generally led him both 
to feel such mortifications more sensibly, and to express 
his feelings more promptly and more forcibly, than any 
of the rest, was so shocked at what he had just heard, 
that " he took Jesus, and began to rebuke him, saying, 
Be it far from thee, Lord ; this shall not be unto thee." 
Our Saviour, who saw every thing, that passed in his 
mind, and perceived, probably, that this expostulation 
took its rise more from disappointed interest and am- 
bition, than from a generous concern for his Master's 
credit and honour, gave him an immediate and severe 

* Matt.xvi, 21. 



MATTHEW XVII. 197 

reproof : " Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou art an 
offence to me ; for thou savourest not the things that be 
of God, but those that be of men." 

He then proceeded to show, not only that he himself 
must suffer persecution, but that all those who would at 
that time come after him, and share with him the ar- 
duous and dangerous task of sowing the first seeds of the 
Gospel, " must deny themselves, and take up their cross 
and follow him." But then, to support them under 
those severe injunctions, he cheers them immediately 
with a brighter scene of things, and with a prospect of 
his future glory, and their future recompense. " The 
Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with 
his angels, and then shall he reward every man accord- 
ing to his works." And he adds, " Verily I say unto 
you, there be some standing here, which shall not taste 
of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his 
kingdom." The meaning of these last words I shall in- 
quire into hereafter. But the evident tendency of the 
whole passage is to prepare the minds of his disciples 
for the cruel treatment, which both he and they were to 
undergo, and at the same time to raise their drooping 
spirits, by setting before their eyes his own exaltation, 
and their glorious rewards in another life. 

This discourse, however, he probably found had not 
sufficiently subdued their prejudices, and reconciled 
them to his state of humiliation ; and therefore he de- 
termined to try a method of impressing them with juster 
sentiments, which he frequently had recourse to on simi- 
lar occasions ; and that was, representing to them, by a 
significant action, what he had already explained by 
words. 

Accordingly, within a few days after the foregoing 
conversation, he taketh with him Peter, James, and 
John, and bringeth them up into a high mountain (pro- 
bably Mount Tabor) apart. Very fanciful reasons have 
been assigned by some of the commentators for his taking 
with him only three of his disciples. But all that it 
seems necessary to say on this head is, that as the law 
required no more than two or three witnesses to consti- 
tute a regular and judicial proof, our Saviour frequently 
chose to have only this number of witnesses present at 
some of the most important and interesting scenes of his 
life. The three disciples, whom he now selected, were 
those that generally attended him on such occasions, 

S 3 



198 LECTURE XV. 

and who seem to have been distinguished as his most 
intimate and confidential friends. St. John, we know, 
was so in an eminent degree. St. James, his brother, 
would, from that near connection, probably be brought 
more frequently under his Master's notice ; and as 
St. Peter was the very person, who had expressed him- 
self with so much indignation on the subject of our Sa- 
viour's sufferings, it was highly proper and necessary, 
that he should be admitted to a spectacle, which was 
purposely calculated to calm those emotions, and re- 
move that disgust, which the first mention of them had 
produced in his mind. 

With these companions, then, Jesus ascended the 
mountain, and was transfigured before them ; " and, be- 
hold, there appeared Moses and Elias talking with him." 
They were not only seen by the disciples, but they were 
heard also conversing with Jesus. This is a circumstance 
of great importance, especially when we are told what 
the subject of their conversation was. St. Luke gives us 
this useful piece of information ; he says, that " they 
spake of our Lord's decease, which he should accomplish 
at Jerusalem." The very mention of Christ's sufferings 
and death by such men as Moses and Elias, without any 
marks of surprise or dissatisfaction, was of itself sufficient 
to occasion a great change in the sentiments of the dis- 
ciples respecting those sufferings, and to soften those 
prejudices of theirs against them, the removal of which 
seems to have been one of the more immediate objects 
of the transfiguration. But if we suppose farther (what 
is far from being improbable), that in the course of the 
conversation several interesting particulars respecting 
our Saviour's crucifixion were brought under discussion ; 
if they entered at any length into that important subject, 
the great work of our redemption ; if they touched upon 
the nature, the cause, and the consequences of it ; the 
pardon of sin, the restitution to God's favour, the tri- 
umph over death, and the gift of eternal life; if they 
showed, that the sufferings of Christ were prefigured in 
the law, and foretold by the prophets ; it is easy to see, 
that topics such as these must tend still farther to open 
the eyes and remove the prepossessions of his disciples ; 
and the more so, because they would seem to arise inci- 
dentally in a discourse between other persons casually 
overheard j which, having no appearance of design or 
professed opposition in it, would be apt to make a deeper 



MATTHEW XVII. 199 

impression on their minds than a direct and open attack 
upon their prejudices. 

But the circumstance, which would, probably, be most 
effectual in correcting the erroneous ideas of his disci- 
ples on this head, was the act of the transfiguration 
itself, the astonishing change it produced in the whole 
of our Lord's external appearance. 

From the expressions made use of by the several 
evangelists, this change appears to have been a very 
illustrious one. They inform us, that, " as our Saviour 
prayed, the fashion of his countenance was changed ; 
his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment became 
exceeding white and glistering j as white as snow, as 
white as the light, so as no fuller on earth could whiten 
it." Now Christ having assumed this splendid and 
glorious appearance at the very time when Moses and 
Elias were conversing with him on his sufferings, it was 
a visible and striking proof to his disciples, that those 
sufferings were not, as they imagined, any real discredit 
and disgrace to him, but were perfectly consistent with 
the dignity of his character, and the highest state of glory 
to which he could be exalted. 

But farther still : Jesus had (in the conversation men- 
tioned in the preceding chapter) told his disciples, that 
the Son of man should come " in the glory of his Father," 
with his holy angels, to judge the world. The scene on 
the Mount, therefore, which so soon followed that conversa- 
tion, was probably meant to convey to them some idea 
and some evidence " of his coming in glory" at the great 
day of judgment, of which his transfiguration was, per- 
haps, as just a picture and exemplification as human 
sight could bear. 

It is, indeed, described in nearly the same terms that 
St. John in the Revelation applies to the Son of Man in 
his state of glory in Heaven. " He was clothed/' says 
he, " with a garment down to the foot. His head and 
his hair were white like wool, white as snow ; and his 
countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength." It 
is remarkable, that St. Luke calls his appearance, after 
being transfigured, " his grory." St. John, who was 
likewise present at this appearance, gives it the same 
name. " We beheld his glory, as of the only begotten 
of the Father." And St. Peter, who was another wit- 
ness to this transaction on the Mount, refers to it by a 
similar expression. " For he received," says that apos- 



200 LECTURE XV. 

tie, * from God the Father honour and glory, when there 
came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This 
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased*." There 
can hardly therefore remain any doubt, but that " the 
glory, which Christ received from the Father/' on the 
mountain, was meant to be a representation of his com- 
ing " in the glory of his Father," with his holy angels, 
at the end of the world; which is one of the topics 
touched upon in the preceding chapter. 

Another thing there mentioned was our Saviour's re- 
surrection. Of this, indeed, there is no direct symbol in 
the transfiguration : but it is evidently implied in that 
transaction ; because Jesus is there represented in his 
glorified, celestial state, which being in the natural order 
of time subsequent to his resurrection, that event must 
naturally be supposed to have previously taken place. 

But though this great event is only indirectly al- 
luded to here, yet those most important doctrines which 
are founded upon it, a general resurrection, and a day 
of retribution, are expressly represented in the transfi- 
guration. 

In the sixteenth chapter of St. Matthew, Christ tells 
his disciples, that when " he comes in the glory of his 
Father, with the holy angels, he will reward every man 
according to his works t:" from whence it necessarily 
follows, that every man who is dead shall rise from the 
grave. And in confirmation of both these truths, there 
are two just and righteous men, Moses and Elias, who 
had many years before departed out of the world, brought 
back to it again, and represented (as we shall see here- 
after) in a state of glory. That they actually appeared 
in their own proper persons, there is not the least reason 
to doubt. Grotius even goes so far as to affirm, that 
their bodies were reserved for this very purpose. But 
there is no necessity and no ground for this imagination. 
For though, indeed, the sepulchre of Moses was not 
known, yet his body was actually buried in a valley in 
the land of Moab, and therefore must have seen cor- 
ruption ; and as the whole transaction was miraculous, 
it was just as easy to Omnipotence to restore life and 
form to a body mouldered into dust, as to reanimate a 
body that was preserved uncorrupted and entire ; and, 
indeed, was a much exacter emblem of our own resur- 

* 2 Pet. i, 17. t Ver.27. 



MATTHEW XVIL 201 

rection. We may, however, readily admit, what some 
learned men have justly observed, that, Elias having 
been carried up into heaven without undergoing death, 
he was here a proper representative of those who shall be 
found alive at the day of judgment, as Moses is of those 
who had died, and are raised to life again. And his ap- 
pearance a second time on earth, after he had been so 
many ages dead and buried, must have been a convincing 
proof to the disciples (had they duly attended to it) of 
the possibility of a resurrection. 

And what is no less important, the manner in which 
both Moses and Elias appeared ont his occasion, afforded 
the disciples an ocular demonstration of a day of retri- 
bution, agreeably to what their Divine Master had a few 
days before told them, " that he would reward every man 
according to his works." 

For as we are informed, that both Moses and Elias 
appeared also in glory ; a glory somewhat similar, we 
may suppose, though far inferior, to that with which 
Christ was invested ; like him they were probably clothed 
in raiments of unusual whiteness and splendour ; and the 
fashion of their countenances might also be changed to 
something more bright and illustrious. Now this would 
be a just representation of the gloinfied state of saints in 
heaven, of those who had been rewarded according to 
their works. For we find those holy men, who have 
passed victoriously through their Christian warfare, de- 
scribed by St. John as clothed "in white raiment*;" 
and by St. Matthew, as " shining forth like the sun in 
the kingdom of their Father t." 

The glorv of Christ,' therefore, on the mountain, was a 
symbol of his exaltation to be the judge of the earth ; 
and the glory of Moses and Elias was an emblem of the 
rewards given to the righteous in heaven. 

When all these circumstances are put together, they 
throw considerable light over the concluding part of 
Christ's conversation, which has not yet been noticed, 
" Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, 
which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of 
Man coming in his kingdom J." This has commonly 
been supposed to refer to the signal manifestation of 

* Rev.iii, 5. t Matt.xiii, 43. 

t Matthew xvi, 28. St. Mark says, " Till thev have seen the 
kingdom of God come with power." " St. Luke, " Till thev see the 
kingdom o/ God." 



202 LECTURE XV. 

Christ's power in the destruction of Jerusalem. But 
we know of no one of Christ's disciples that survived 
this event, except St. John ; and our Saviour here speaks 
of more than one. But besides this, in the twenty- 
seventh verse of this chapter, we are told, that " the 
Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father, to re- 
ward every man according to his works." This, un- 
doubtedly, relates to Christ's final advent to judge the 
world. When, therefore, it immediately follows in the 
very next verse, " Verily, I say unto you, that there be 
some standing here, which shall not taste of death till 
they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom ; " is it not 
most natural, is it not almost necessary to understand 
these similar expressions as relating to the same great 
event 1 

But did Christ then mean to say here, that some of his 
disciples should live to the day of judgment ? Most as- 
suredly not. He meant only to intimate, that a few of 
them should, before their death, be favoured with a re- 
presentation of the glorious appearance of Christ and his 
saints on that awful day. And this illustrious scene was 
actually displayed to three of them, about six days after, 
in the transfiguration on the mountain. Indeed, St. Peter 
himself, who was present at the transfiguration, plainly 
alludes to it, in a manner which powerfully confirms 
this opinion. " We have not," says he, " followed cun- 
ningly devised fables, when we made known unto you 
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." That 
is, our Lord's coming in his kingdom with power and 
glory, and majesty, to judge the world. And how does 
St. Peter here prove that he will so come 1 Why, by de- 
claring that he and the two other disciples, James and 
John, were "eye-witnesses of his majesty;" that is, 
they actually saw him on the Mount, invested with 
majesty and glory similar to that which he would 
assume in his kingdom at the last day. " For," con- 
tinues the apostle, " he received from God the Father 
honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him 
from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in 
whom I am well pleased ; and this voice, which came 
from heaven, we heard, when we were with him in the 
holy mount*." 

This is St. Peter's own comment on the transfigura- 

* 2Pet.i, 16, 17, 18. 



MATTHEW XVII. 203 

tion, in which he expressly compares Christ's glory and 
majesty on the Mount, to that which he will display in 
his final advent ; and considers the former as an emblem, 
an earnest, and a proof of the latter. 

It is, then, evident, I think, from the foregoing obser- 
vations, that the scene upon the mountain was a symbo- 
lical representation of Christ's coming in glory to judge the 
world, and of the rewards which shall then be given to the 
righteous, topics which had been touched upon in Christ's 
discourse with his disciples six days before ; and that one 
great object of this expressive action, as well as of that 
conversation, was to reconcile the minds of his disciples 
to the sufferings which both he and they were to undergo, 
by showing that they were preparatory and subservient 
to his future glory, and their future rewards. 

The other great purpose of the action on the Mount 
was, I apprehend, to signify, in a figurative manner, the 
cessation of the Jewish and the commencement of the Chris- 
tian dispensation. 

It appears to have been one prevailing prejudice 
among the disciples, that the whole Mosaical law, the 
ceremonial as well as the moral, was to continue in full 
force under the Gospel ; and that the authority of Moses 
and the prophets was not, in any respect, to give way on 
the establishment of Christianity, but to be placed on an 
equal footing with that of Christ. 

To correct this erroneous opinion, no less than to 
vanquish their prepossessions against the sufferings of 
Christ (as already explained), was the scene of the 
transfiguration presented to the three chosen disciples, 
Peter, James, and John. 

There are several remarkable circumstances attending 
that event, which lead us to this conclusion. 

Moses and Elias must certainly be allowed to be very 
natural and proper representatives of the law and the 
prophets. 

When the three disciples saw these illustrious persons 
conversing familiarly with Jesus, it probably confirmed 
them in their opinion, that they were to be considered 
as of equal dignity and authority with him ; and under 
this impression, Peter immediately addressed himself 
to Jesus, and said, " Lord, it is good for us to be here ; 
and, if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one 
for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias." The 
full meaning of which exclamation was, " What greater 



204 LECTURE XV. 

happiness, Lord, can we experience than to continue 
here in the presence of three such great and excellent 
persons ! Here, then, let us for ever remain ! Here let 
us erect three tents, for thee, for Moses, and Elias, that 
you may all make this the constant place of your abode, 
and that we may always continue under the protection 
and government, and united empire of our three illus- 
trious lords and masters, whose sovereign laws and com- 
mands we are equally bound to obey ! " 

The answer to this extraordinary proposal was in- 
stantly given both by action and by words. " While he 
yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them : 
and, behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is 
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased : hear ye 
him." 

The cloud is the well-known token of the Divine 
presence under the law : many instances of it occur in 
the Old Testament, but more particularly at the giving 
of the law on Mount Sinai. On the mountain where 
our Saviour was transfigured, a new law was declared to 
have taken place ; and therefore God again appears in 
a cloud. But there is one remarkable difference be- 
tween these two manifestations of the Divine presence. 
On Mount Sinai the cloud was dark and thick: "and 
there were thunders and lightnings, and the voice of the 
trumpet exceeding loud, and all the people that were in 
the camp trembled*." At the transfiguration, on the con- 
trary, the cloud was bright, the whole scene was lumi- 
nous and transporting, and nothing was heard but the 
mild paternal voice of the Almighty expressing his de- 
light in his beloved Son. These striking differences in 
the two appearances evidently point out the different 
tempers of the two dispensations ; of which the former, 
from its severity, was more calculated to excite terror ; 
the latter, from its gentleness, to inspire love. 

This circumstance alone, therefore, indicated a happy 
change in the Divine economy ; but the gracious words 
which issued from the cloud most clearly explained the 
meaning of what was passing before the eyes of the dis- 
ciples, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased : hear ye him." " This is my Son, not as Mo- 
ses and all the prophets were, my servants. Him, and 
him only, you are now to hear. He is from henceforth 
• 

* Exod. xix, 16. 



MATTHEW XVII. 205 

to be your lord, your legislator, and your king. The 
evangelical law being established, the ceremonial law 
must cease, and Moses and the Prophets must give way 
to Christ. With this declaration, the conclusion of the 
whole scene on the mountain perfectly harmonizes. Mo- 
ses and Elias instantly disappear, and, " when the dis- 
ciples lift up their eyes, they see no man, save Jesus 
only." The former objects of their veneration are no 
more. Christ remains alone their unrivalled and undis- 
puted sovereign. 

In support of this interpretation it may be farther ob- 
served, that there was reason to expect, about that 
time, some such declaration as this respecting the cessa- 
tion of the Mosaical law. Tor St. Luke informs us, that 
the ** law and the prophets were until John : " that is, 
they were to continue in force till John the Baptist had 
(as our Lord expresses it} restored all things ; had 
preached these great doctrines of repentance and re- 
demption by the blood of Christ, by which men were 
restored to a light state of mind, and the favour of God ; 
till he had thus prepared the way for the Messiah, and 
publicly announced the kingdom of God ; and then they 
were to be superseded by the Christian dispensation. 
Accordingly, not long after the death of John, the scene 
of the transfiguration took place ; and this great revolu- 
tion, this substitution of a new system for the old one, 
was made known, in that remarkable manner, to the 
three disciples. This secondary meaning, here assigned 
to the vision on the Mount, will assist us in explaining 
an injunction of our Lord to his disciples, for which; 
though other reasons have been assigned, yet they are 
not, I think, altogether satisfactory. 

In the ninth verse we are told, that, as they came 
down from the Mount, Jesus charged the disciples, say- 
ing, " Tell the vision to no man, till the Son of Man be 
risen again from the dead." 

If the only intent of the transfiguration had been to re- 
present, by an expressive action, our Lord's resurrection 
and exaltation, and a future day of retribution, it is not 
easy to assign a sufficient reason why this injunction of 
secrecy, till after his resurrection, should have been 
given, because he had already foretold his resurrection 
to his disciples*, and he also apprised them, before his 
death, of his coming in glory to judge the world t. It 
* Matt, xvi, 21 . t Matt. xxv. 

T 



206 LECTURE XV. 

does not, therefore, appear, how the publication of the 
vision on the Mount could have been attended with any 
other consequence, than that of confirming what Jesus 
had already made known. 

But if we suppose that one purpose of the transfigura- 
tion was to typify the abolition of the ceremonial law, 
and the establishment of the evangelical, a plain reason 
presents itself for this command of keeping it for some 
time private, for it was one of those truths which the 
first converts were not able to bear. Great numbers of 
them, though they firmly believed in Christ, yet no less 
firmly believed, that the Mosaical dispensation was still 
in full force. This prejudice, it is well known, continued 
several years after our Lord's resurrection. Mention is 
made " of several thousand Jews who believed, and yet 
were all zealous of the law." And it was the suspicion, 
that St. Paul had forsaken, and taught others to forsake 
Moses, which brought his life into the most imminent 
danger, and actually occasioned his imprisonment. No 
wonder, then, that a transaction, which was designed 
to prefigure this very doctrine that St. Paul was charged 
with, and that was so offensive to the Jewish converts 
in general, should be thought unfit by our Lord to be 
publicly divulged till some time, perhaps a considerable 
time, after his resurrection. 

Prom the whole, then, of the preceding observations, 
it appears, that the transfiguration of Christ was one of 
those emblematical actions, or figurative representations, 
of which so many instances have been pointed out, and 
at the same time very distinctly explained, and elegantly 
illustrated, by some of our best divines. 

The things represented by this significant transaction 
were, 

Pirst, The future glory of Christ, a general resurrec- 
tion, and a future retribution. 

Secondly, The abrogation of the Mosaical, and the 
establishment of the evangelical dispensation. 

And the immediate purpose of these representations 
was, as I before observed, to correct two inveterate pre- 
judices which prevailed among the disciples, and the 
Jewish converts in general. 

Of these, one was the extreme offence they took at 
any mention of the death and sufferings of Christ, which 
they conceived to be utterly inconsistent with his dig- 
nity. 



MATTHEW XVII. 207 

The other was, their persuasion that the ceremonial 
law was not done away by the Gospel, but that they 
were to exist together in full force, and to have an equal 
obedience paid to them by all the disciples of Christ. 

But though the removal of these prejudices was, as I 
conceive, the primary and immediate design of the trans- 
figuration, yet there are also purposes of great utility to 
all Christians in general, in every age, which it might 
be, and probably was, intended to answer. 

In the first place, it affords one more additional proof 
of the divine mission of Christ, and the divine authority 
of his religion. 

It is one of the few occasions on which God himself 
was pleased, as it were, personally to interpose, and to 
make an open declaration from heaven in favour of his 
Son ; " this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased : hear ye him." Two other instances, only, of 
this kind occur in the Gospels, one at our Saviour's bap- 
tism, the other on his praying to his Father to save him 
from the sufferings that awaited him. 

Now these signs from heaven may be considered as a 
distinct species of evidence, different both from miracles 
and prophecies, frequently and earnestly wished for by 
the Jews, but not granted to them, nor vouchsafed to 
any one, but very sparingly, and on great and solemn 
occasions. 

But besides this awful testimony to the divine origin 
of our religion in general, a particular attestation was 
(as we have seen) given on the Mount to two of its 
principal doctrines, a general resurrection, and a 
day of retribution. The visible and illustrious repre- 
sentation of these in the glorified appearance of Christ, 
and Moses, and Elias, has been already explained, and 
is appealed to by St. Peter, who saw it, as one convinc- 
ing proof among others, that " he had not followed cun- 
ningly devised fables," when he made known " the 
power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And, in- 
deed, since these two doctrines, a resurrection, and a 
day of judgment, are two of the most essential and fun- 
damental articles of our faith ; and since it was one of 
the chief purposes of the Christian revelation " to bring 
life and immortality to light," no wonder that God 
should graciously condescend to confirm these great 
truths to us in so many various ways ; by words and by 
actions, by prophecies, by miracles, and by celestial 
visions. 



LECTURE XVI. 



MATTHEW XVIII. 

The subject of this Lecture is a part of the eighteenth 
chapter of St. Matthew. 

It is evident, that the disciples of our Lord were, for 
a considerable time, possessed with the imagination 
which prevailed universally among the Jews respecting 
their Messiah, that their Master's" kingdom was to be a 
temporal one ; that he was at some time or other to be- 
come a prince of great power and splendour, and that 
they of course should enjoy the largest share of his fa- 
vour, and be placed in situations of great distinction 
and great emolument. And this delusion had taken such 
strong hold upon their minds, that, although our Lord took 
frequent opportunities of combating their error, and made 
use of every means in his power to undeceive them, yet they 
still persisted in maintaining their favourite opinion ; and 
in the beginning of this chapter they came to Jesus, say- 
ing, " Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven V y 
It appears, from the parallel passage in St. Mark, that 
they had been disputing by the way who should be the 
greatest. Our Lord, knowing this, and finding that all 
he had said on this subject had produced no effect upon 
them, determined to try whether a different mode of 
conveying his sentiments to them might not strike their 
minds more forcibly. He therefore had recourse (as in 
the case of the transfiguration) to what may be called a 
visible kind of language. He took a little child, and, 
placing him before them, bid them contemplate the in- 
nocence and simplicity, the meekness and humility, 
which marked its countenance ; and then assured them, 
that, unless they were converted, and became as little 
children ; that is, unless a total change took place in the 



MATTHEW XVIII. 209 

temper and disposition of their minds ; unless they be- 
came as unambitious and unaspiring, as meek, as hum- 
ble and contented, as little concerned about worldly ho- 
nours and distinctions, as the child before them, they 
could not enter into the kingdom of heaven ; they could 
never be considered as true objects of Christ's kingdom 
here, or be capable of inheriting the rewards of heaven 
hereafter. In the eye of God, true humility is a most 
sublime virtue ; and whoever shall humble himself as 
this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of 
heaven. Our Lord then goes on to say, " Whosoever re- 
ceiveth one such little child in my name, receiveth me." 
That is, it is men of humble minds and meek dispositions 
whom I most highly prize, and whom I most strongly 
recommend to the notice, the kindness, the protection of 
all those who are friends to me and my religion ; and so 
dear are men of this description to me, that I make their 
interests my own, and I shall consider every man who 
receives, and assists, and encourages them on my ac- 
count, and for my sake, as receiving me. But if, in- 
stead of receiving and protecting these my humble disci- 
ples, any one should dare to injure them, he must ex- 
pect the severest marks of my displeasure. " Whoso 
shall offend one of these little ones, which believe in me, 
it were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged 
about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth 
of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences ; 
for it must needs be that offences come, but woe to that 
man by whom the offence cometh." 

In order to comprehend the full meaning of this de- 
nunciation, it will be necessary to explain the peculiar 
meaning of the word offend. Now this expression, in 
the present passage, as well as in many other parts of 
the New Testament, signifies, to cause any one to fall 
from his faith, to renounce his belief in Christ by any 
means whatever ; and against every one that makes use 
either of violence or artifice to terrify or seduce the sin- 
cere, and humble, and unsuspicious believer in Christ 
from his faith and obedience to his Divine Master, the 
severest woes and the heaviest punishments are here de- 
nounced. 

This text of scripture, therefore, I would most earnestly 
recommend to the serious consideration of those, who 
either are or have been guilty of this most dangerous 
crime ; and I would, also, no less earnestlv caution all 

T3 



210 LECTURE XVI. 

those, wholiave not yet been guilty of it, to avoid, with 
the utmost care, every degree of it, and every approach 
to it. It is a crime often touched upon in holy writ, 
but less noticed, or at least less enlarged upon by di- 
vines and moralists, than perhaps any other sin of the 
same magnitude. For this reason, I shall enter more 
fully into the consideration of it than has hitherto, I be- 
lieve, been usually done, and shall advert briefly to the 
several modes of making our foother to offend, that is, to 
renounce his faith in Christ, which are most common 
and most successful ; and these are, persecution, sophis- 
try, ridicule, immoral examples, and immoral publi- 
cations. 

With respect to the first of these, persecution, it was, 
during the first ages of the Gospel, and for many years 
after the Reformation, the great rock of offence, the chief 
instrument made use of (and a dreadful one it was) to 
deter men from embracing the faith of Christ, or to com- 
pel them to renounce it. But since that time we have 
heard little of its terrors, till they were, some years ago, 
revived, to a certain degree, in a neighbouring nation, 
where the various cruelties inflicted on their clergy are too 
well known, and cannot surely be ascribed altogether 
and exclusively to political causes. 

In our own country, it must be acknowledged, we 
cannot justly be charged with this species of guilt- In- 
tolerance and persecution are certainly not in the num- 
ber of our national sins. But in the next mode of making 
our brother to offend, that is, by grave argument and 
reason, by open and systematic attacks on the truth and 
divine authority of the Christian revelation, in this we 
have, I fear, a large load of responsibility upon our 
heads. 

It has even been affirmed by some, that we are en- 
titled to the distinction of having led the way to this 
kind of impiety and profaneness. We have this honour 
given to us (for an honour they esteem it) by foreign 
writers ; and, what is worst of all, we are applauded for 
it by such men as D'Alembert and Voltaire. 

To be stigmatized with their praise, and for such a rea- 
son, is a disgrace indeed ; and it would be a still greater, 
if we could not justly disclaim and throw back from our- 
selves the humiliating and ignominious applause which 
they would inflict upon us. But this, I apprehend, we 
may effectually do. There appears to me sufficient 



MATTHEW XVIII. 211 

ground for asserting, that the earliest infidels of modern 
times were to be found, not in this island, but on the 
continent. If we may credit the account given of Peter 
Aretin (who lived and wrote in the fourteenth century) 
by IMoreri, and particularly the epitaph upon him, which 
he recites, there is reason to believe that he was an infi- 
del of the worst species ; and Yiret, a divine of great 
eminence among the first reformers, who wrote about 
the year 1563, speaks of a number of persons, both in 
France and Italy, who had assumed the name of Deists, 
and seem to have formed themselves into a sect. But it 
was net-till the beginning of the following century that 
any men of that description, or any publications hostile 
to revelation, appeared in this kingdom. From that 
time, indeed, down to the present, there has been a re- 
gular succession of an ti- christian writers of various de- 
scriptions and various talents, whose uniform object has 
been to subvert the foundations of revealed religion, and 
to make their countrymen offend, and renounce their 
faith. The last of these was a man, who, from the low- 
est origin, raised himself to some distinction in the poli- 
tical and literary world, by his bold and impious libels 
against government, against religion, and the Holy Scrip- 
tures themselves. In these writings were concentrated 
all the malignity, all the shrewdness, all the sophistry 
of his numerous predecessors ; and from their brevity, 
their plainness, their familiarity, their vulgar ribaldry, 
their bold assertions, and artful misrepresentations, they 
were better calculated to impose on the ignorant and un- 
informed, and more dangerous to the principles of the 
great mass of mankind, than any publications that this 
country ever before produced. And certain it is, that, 
having been distributed with infinite industry through 
every district of the kingdom, they did for a time diffuse 
their poison far and wide, and made a strong and fatal 
impression on the multitude. But, thanks be to God ! 
they at length providentially met with talents infinitely 
superior to those of their illiterate author, which, with 
the blessing of Heaven upon them, gave a sudden and 
effectual check to the progress of this mischief, and af- 
forded a striking proof of the truth of that prophecy re- 
specting the stability of our religion, " that the gates of 
hell shall never prevail against it." 

The next great engine of offence, by which multitudes 
have been led to renounce their faith, is ridicule. An 



212 LECTURE XVI. 

attempt was made early in the last century to erect this 
into a test of truth, and it has accordingly been applied 
by many writers since that time to throw discredit on 
the Christian revelation. But by no one has this wea- 
pon been employed with more force and with more suc- 
cess, than by the great patriarch of infidelity, Voltaire. 
It is the principal instrument he makes use of to vilify 
the Gospel ; and among- the instructions he gives to his 
coadjutors and fellow-labourers in this righteous work, 
one is to load the Christian religion and the Author of it 
with never-ceasing ridicule, to burlesque it in every way 
that imagination can suggest, and to deluge the world 
with an infinity of little tracts, placing revelation in the 
most ludicrous point of view, and rendering it an object 
of mirth and of contempt to the lowest of mankind. This 
method he strictly pursued himself; to this he bent all 
the powers of his mind, all the vivacity of his wit, all 
the fire of his imagination ; and whoever examines his 
writings against Christianity with care will find, that 
much the largest part of them are of this description. 
And in this he showed a thorough knowledge of the 
world. He knew, that mankind in general prefer wit 
to logic, and love to be entertained rather than con- 
vinced ; that it is much easier to point an epigram than 
to produce an argument ; that few can reason justly, but 
that all the world can be made to laugh ; and that 
whatever can be rendered an object of derision is almost 
sure to be rejected without examination. Of all these 
artifices he has availed himself with infinite address, and 
we know also with fatal success. His writings have un- 
questionably produced more infidels among the higher 
classes, and spread more general corruption over the 
world, than all the voluminous productions of all the 
other philosophists of Europe put together. 

There is still another way of making our brother to 
offend, or, in other words, of shaking his faith in the Gos- 
pel ; and that is, by exhibiting to mankind in our life 
and conversation a profligate example. 

This, in the first place, gives the world an unfavoura- 
ble idea of the religion we profess. It tempts men to 
think, either that we ourselves do not believe it, or that 
we suppose it consistent with the vices to which we are 
abandoned ; and either of these suppositions must con- 
siderably lessen their estimation, both of its doctrines 
and its precepts. 



MATTHEW XVIIL 213 

In the next place, a wicked example, as we all know, 
tends to corrupt in some degree every one that lives 
within its baneful influence ; more particularly if it be 
found in men of high rank, great wealth, splendid ta- 
lents, profound erudition, or popular characters. The 
mischief done by any notorious vices in men of this de- 
scription is inconceivable. It spreads like a pestilence, 
and destroys thousands in secrecy and silence, of whom 
the offender himself knows nothing, and whom, probably, 
he never meant to injure ; and wherever the heart is cor- 
rupted, the principle of faith is proportionably weak- 
ened ; for no man, that gives a loose to his passions, will 
choose to have so troublesome a monitor near him as the 
Gospel. When he has learned to disregard the moral 
precepts of that divine volume, it requires but a very 
slight effort to reject its doctrines, and then to disbelieve 
the truth of the whole. 

A dissolute life, then, especially in particular classes 
of men, is one certain way of making our brother to of- 
fend, not only in point of practice, but of belief; and 
there is another method of producing the same effects, 
nearly allied to this, and that is, immoral publications. 

These have the same tendency with bad examples, 
both in propagating vice and promoting infidelity ; but 
they are still more pernicious, because the sphere of 
their influence is more extensive. 

A bad example, though it operates fatally, operates 
comparatively within a small circumference. It extends 
only to those who are near enough to observe it, and fall 
within the reach of the poisonous infection that spreads 
around it ; but the contagion of a licentious publication, 
especially if it be (as it too frequently is) in a popular 
and captivating shape, knows no bounds ; it flies to the 
remotest corners of the earth ; it penetrates the obscure 
and retired habitations of simplicity and innocence ; it 
makes its way into the cottage of the peasant, into the 
hut of the shepherd, and the shop of the mechanic ; it 
falls into the hands of all ages, ranks, and conditions ; 
but it is peculiarly fatal to the unsuspecting and un- 
guarded minds of the youth of both sexes ; and to them 
its " breath is poison, and its touch is death." 

W T hat then have they to answer for, who are every day 
obtruding these publications on the world, in a thousand 
different shapes and forms, in history, in biography, in 
poems, in novels, in dramatic pieces ; in all which the 
prevailing feature is universal 'philanthropy and wdiscri- 



214 LECTURE XVI, 

minate benevolence ; under the protection of which the 
hero of the piece has the privilege of committing what- 
ever irregularities he thinks fit ; and while he is violating 
the most sacred obligations, insinuating the most licen- 
tious sentiments, and ridiculing every thing that looks 
like religion, he is nevertheless held up as a model of 
virtue ; and though he may perhaps be charged with a 
few little venial foibles, and pardonable infirmities (as 
they are called), yet we are assured, that he has not- 
withstanding the very best heart in the world. Thus it is 
that the principles 01 our youth are insensibly and almost 
unavoidably corrupted : and instead of being inspired, 
as they ought to be, even upon the stage, with a just de- 
testation of vice, they are furnished with apologies for it, 
which they never forget, and are even taught to consi- 
der it as a necessary part of an accomplished character. 

And, as if we had not enough of this disgusting non- 
sense and abominable profligacy in our own country, and 
in our own language, we are every day importing fresh 
samples of them from abroad, are ingrafting foreign im- 
morality on our own native stock, and introducing cha- 
racters on the stage, or into the closet, which are calcu- 
lated to recommend the most licentious principles, and 
favour irregularities and attachments that deserve the 
severest reprehension and punishment. 

These are the several modes in which we may weaken 
or even destroy the moral and religious principles of very- 
sincere Christians, or, in the words of Scripture, " may 
make our brother to offend." And whoever is guilty of 
giving this offence, ought most seriously to consider the 
heavy punishment, and the bitter woe, which our Lord 
here denounces against it. There is scarce any one sin 
noticed by him which he reprobates in such strong terms 
as this : " Whoso shall offend one of these little ones 
which believe in me, it were better for him that a mill- 
stone were hanged about his neck, and that he were 
drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world 
because of offences ; for it must needs be that offences 
come, but woe to that man by whom the offence 
cometh." These are tremendous words ; but we cannot 
wonder that our Lord should express himself thus 
strongly, when we consider the dreadful consequences 
of spreading infidelity and immorality among our fellow- 
creatures. We distress them with doubts and scruples, 
which never before entered into their thoughts ; we rob 
them of the most invaluable blessings of life, of that 



MATTHEW XVIII. 215 

heavenly consolation and support, which is derived from 
religious sentiments and virtuous habits ; of that trust 
and confidence in the Supreme Disposer of all things, 
which gives ease and comfort to the afflicted soul ; of 
that unspeakable satisfaction, which results from a con- 
scientious discharge of our duty ; and of that peace of 
God, which passeth all understanding. But what is 
still worse, we not only deprive them of the truest com- 
forts of the present life, but we cut off all their hopes of 
happiness in the next ; we take from them the only sure 
ground of pardon and acceptance, the death and merits 
of a crucified Redeemer : we bar up against them the 
gates of heaven, into which but for us they might have 
have entered, and perhaps consign them over to ever- 
lasting perdition. Is not this beyond comparison the 
greatest injury that one human creature can inflict upon 
another ? And does it not justly merit that severe sen- 
tence which our Lord has pronounced against it ? Let 
then, every one keep at the utmost distance from 
this most atrocious crime. Let every man, who com- 
mits his thoughts to the public, take especial care, 
that nothing drop even incidentally from his pen 
that can offend those whom our Saviour calls little 
children that believe in him; that can either stagger 
their faith or corrupt their hearts. Let every father 
of a family be equally careful that nothing escape his 
lips, in the unguarded hour of familiar converse, that 
can be dangerous to the religious principles of his child- 
ren, his friends, or his servants ; nothing that tends to 
lessen their reverence for the sacrecf writings, their re- 
spect for the doctrines, the precepts, or the sacred or- 
dinances of religion, or raise any doubts or scruples in 
their minds respecting the truth or divine authority of 
the Christian revelation. I mention these things, be- 
cause even the friends of religion are sometimes apt, 
through mere inadvertence or thoughtlessness, to in- 
dulge themselves in pleasantries, even upon serious 
subjects, which though meant at the time merely to en- 
tertain their hearers, or to display their wit, yet often 
produce a very different effect, and sink much deeper 
into the minds of those that are present (especially of 
young people) than they are in the least aware of. More 
mischief may sometimes be done by incidental levities 
of this kind, than by grave discourses or elaborate writ- 
ings against religion. 



216 LECTURE XVI. 

I have dwelt the longer on this interesting topic, be- 
cause few people are aware of the enormity of the sin 
here reproved by our Lord, of the irreparable injury it 
may do to others, and of the danger to which it exposes 
themselves. But when they reflect, that by the com- 
mission of this crime they endanger the present peace 
and the future salvation of their fellow-creatures, and 
expose themselves to the woes which our Lord has in the 
passage before us denounced against those from whom 
these offences come, they will probably feel it their duty 
to be more guarded in this instance than men generally 
are ; and will take heed to their ways, that they offend 
not either with their pen or with their tongue. 

I now go on with the remaining part of our Lord's ad- 
monition to his disciples. 

After having said, in the seventh verse, f* Woe unto 
the world because of offences ; for it must needs be that 
offences come, but woe to that man by whom the offence 
cometh;" he then adds, " Wherefore, if thy hand or 
thy foot offend thee, cut them off and cast them from 
thee ; it is better for thee to enter into life halt or 
maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be 
cast into everlasting fire ; and if thine eye offend thee, 
pluck it out and cast it from thee ; it is better for thee 
to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two 
eyes to be cast into hell fire." 

Our Saviour here applies to the particular sin, which 
he was then condemning, the very same words which 
he had used before, in his sermon on the Mount, with 
reference to the crime of adultery, and the meaning is 
this : — 

The heinous sin, against which I have been here cau- 
tioning you, that of offending your Christian brethren, 
of causing them by your misconduct to renounce their 
faith in me, or to desert the paths of virtue, has its 
origin in your depraved appetites and passions ; as in 
the present, instance it is your ambition, your eagerness 
after worldly honours and distinctions, which it is to be 
feared will give offence and scandal to those that observe 
it, and may impress them with an unfavourable idea of 
that religion, which seems to inspire such sentiments. 
You must, therefore, go at once to the root of the evil ; 
you must extirpate those corrupt passions and propensi- 
ties that have taken possession of your hearts, though it 
may be as difficult for you to part with them as it would 



MATTHEW XVIII. 217 

be to pluck out an eye, or tear off a limb from the body. 
For it is better that you should renounce what is most 
dear to you in this life, than that you should suffer those 
dreadful punishments in the next, which I have told you 
will assuredly be inflicted on ail impenitent offenders, 
and more particularly on those who offend in the way 
here specified. 

He then returns to the main subject of his exhorta- 
tion : " Take heed that ye despise not one of these little 
ones : for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do 
always behold the face of my Father which is in hea- 
ven." That is, I again repeat to you, take heed that ye 
treat not with scorn and contempt such little children as 
you now see before you, or those believers in me, who 
resemble these children in docility, meekness, humility, 
and indifference to all that the world calls great and ho- 
nourable. Take care that you do not consider their wel- 
fare, their salvation, as below your notice and regard, 
and wantonly endanger both, by giving way to your own 
irregular desires ; for I say unto you, that, however con- 
temptibly you may think of them, your heavenly Father 
regards them with a more favourable eye. He even con- 
descends to take them under his protection ; he sends 
his most favoured angels, those ministers of his that do 
his pleasure, and stand always in his presence, ready to 
execute his commands, even these he deputes to guard 
and watch over these little children, and those humble 
Christians, who are like them in purity and innocence 
of mind. 

From this passage some have inferred, that every child 
and every faithful servant of Christ has an angel con- 
stantly attached to his person, to superintend, direct, and 
protect him ; and this is the opinion of the learned Gro- 
tius himself; whilst others only suppose, that those ce 
lestial spirits, who (as we are told of Gabriel) stand be- 
fore God, are occasionally sent to assist the pious Chris- 
tian in imminent danger, in severe trials, or great emer- 
gencies. And hence, perhaps, the favourite and popular 
doctrine of guardian angels; a doctrine which has pre- 
vailed more or less in every age of the church, which is, 
without question, most soothing and consolatory to hu- 
man nature, and is certainly countenanced by this and 
several other passages of holy writ, as well as by the au- 
thority of Origen, Tertullian, and other ancient fathers 
and commentators. In the Psalms it is said, " The an- 
il 



218 LECTURE XVI. 

gel of the Lord tarrieth round about them that fear him, 
and delivereth them*." And in the Epistle to the He- 
brews! we are told, " that the angels are all ministering 
spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs 
of salvation." No one, therefore, that cherishes this no- 
tion can be charged with weakness or superstition ; and 
if it should be at last an error, it is, as Cicero says of the 
immortality of the soul, so delightful an error, that we 
cannot easily suffer it to be wrested from us:}:. But 
whatever may be the decision of learned men on this 
point, there is one thing most clearly proved by the 
text now before us, and confirmed by a multitude of 
others, and that is, the doctrine, not only of a general 
but of a particular providence, which in one way or 
other, whether by ministering angels, or by the all-com- 
prehending and omnipresent eye of God himself, watches 
over those true disciples of Christ, who, in their tempers, 
dispositions, and manners, approach nearest to the hu- 
mility, the meekness, the innocence, and the simplicity 
of a child. 

This doctrine is, indeed, so distinctly and explicitly 
asserted in various parts of Scripture, that it stands 
in no need of any confirmation from this particular pas- 
sage ; but every additional proof of so material a sup- 
port under the afflictions and calamities of life, must 
be grateful to every heart that has known what afflic- 
tion is. 

The verse that comes next in order is this : " For the 
Son of Man is come to save that which is lost." The 
connection of this verse with the preceding one is some- 
what obscure, but seems to be as follows : You may 
think, perhaps, that man is too mean, too insignificant a 
being, to be worthy of the ministration and guardianship 
of celestial spirits. But how can you entertain this ima- 
gination, when you know that for this creature man, for 
fallen and sinful man, did the Son of God condescend to 
offer himself up a sacrifice on the cross, and came to 
save that which was lost 1 Well, then, may the angels 

* Psal. xxxiv, 7. t Chap, i, 14. 

t The excellent Bishop Andrews has, in one of his animated 
prayers, a passage which plainly shows that he believed this doc- 
trine. It is as follows : " That the angel of peace, the holy guide 
of thy children, the faithful guard set by thee over their souls and 
bodies, may encamp round about me, and continually suggest to 
my mind such things as conduce to thy glory, grant, good Lord ! " 



MATTHEW XVIII. 219 

of heaven be proud to guard what their Lord and Master 
came to save. Jesus then goes on to exemplify, by a fa- 
miliar similitude, his paternal tenderness to the sons of 
men. " How think ye, if a man have an hundred 
sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave 
the ninety and nine, and go into the mountains, and 
seeketh that which is gone astray 1 And if so be that he 
find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that 
sheep than of the ninety and nine that went not astray. 
Even so it is not the will of your Father that one of these 
little ones should perish." We are not to infer, from 
this similitude, that God sets more value, and looks with 
more complacency and approbation on one repenting 
sinner, than on ninety and nine righteous persons who 
have uniformly and devoutly served him. This can ne- 
ver be imagined ; nor would it correspond with the illus- 
tration. The shepherd himself does not set a greater 
value upon the lost sheep than he does upon those that 
are safe, nor would he give up them to recover that 
which has strayed. But his joy for the moment, at the 
recovery of the lost sheep, is greater than he receives 
from all the rest, because he has regained that, and is 
sure of all the others. The whole, therefore, that was 
meant to be inculcated by this parable, is, that God's 
parental tenderness extends to all, even to the sinner 
that goes astray, and that he rejoices at the conversion 
and recovery of the meanest individual, and of the most 
grievous offender. This is the very conclusion, and the 
only one, which our Lord himself draws from the parable. 
" Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in 
heaven, that one of these little ones should perish/' 

Such, then, being the mercy of the Almighty, even to 
his sinful creatures, our Lord goes on to intimate to his 
disciples, that they ought also to exercise a similar lenity 
and forbearance towards their offending brethren. " If 
thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him 
his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear 
thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not 
hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in 
the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be 
established ; and, if he shall neglect to hear them, tell 
it unto the church ; but if he neglect to hear the church, 
let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican." 
In this passage there are evident allusions to the laws 
and customs of the Jews, who, for the conviction of any 
offender, required the testimony of at least two wit- 



220 LECTURE XVI* 

nesses*; and, in the case of notorious and obstinate 
offenders, reproved them publicly in their synagogues. 
But the obvious meaning in regard to ourselves is, that 
even against those who have ill-treated and injured us, 
we should not immediately proceed to extreme severity 
and rigour, but first try the effects of private, and gentle, 
and friendly admonition ; if that fail, then call in two 
or three persons of character and reputation to add 
weight and authority to our remonstrances ; and if that 
has no effect, we are then justified in bringing the of- 
fender before the proper tribunal, to be censured or pu- 
nished as he deserves, avoiding all communication with 
him in future, except what common humanity may re- 
quire, even towards an enemy. These directions are 
evidently the dictates of that moderation, mildness, and 
benevolence, which characterize all our Saviour's pre- 
cepts, and more particularly distinguish this chapter. 

" Verily I say unto you," continues our Saviour, 
" whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in 
heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be 
loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, that if two of 
you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that 
they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father 
which is in heaven ; for where two or three are gathered 
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.'* 

There is some difficulty and some difference of opinion 
with respect to the precise meaning of these verses ; but 
they evidently have a reference to the case of the of- 
fender stated in the preceding verses ; they are addressed 
exclusively to the apostles, and the most natural inter- 
pretation of them seems to be as follows : Whatever 
sentence of absolution or condemnation you shall in your 
apostolical capacity pronounce on any offender, that ■ 
sentence shall be confirmed in heaven ; and whatever 
even two of you shall ask in prayer for direction and as- 
sistance from above, in forming your judicial determina- 
tions, it shall be granted you ; for where only two or 
three of you are gathered together in my name, and are 
acting under my authority, and for my glory, in any case 
of great importance, there am I in the midst of you, by 
my Holy Spirit, to guide, direct, and sanction your pro- 
ceedings. 

We now come to one of the most interesting and most 
affecting parables that is to be found, either in Scrip- 
ture, or in any of the most admired writings of antiquity, 
* Deut. xix, 15. 



MATTHEW XVIII. 221 

In consequence of what our Lord had said, in the course 
of his instructions, on the subject of injuries, Peter 
came to him, and said, " Lord, how oft shall my brother 
sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times V 
an allowance which he probably thought abundantly li- 
beral. Jesus saith unto him, " I say not unto thee un- 
til seven times, but until seventy times seven.'' That 
is, this duty of forgiving injuries has no limits. How- 
ever frequently you are injured, if real penitence and 
contrition follow the offence, a Christian is always bound 
to forgive. To illustrate and confirm this important duty, 
our Lord subjoins the following parable. " Therefore 
is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a king, which 
would take account of his servants. And when he had 
begun to reckon, one was brought to him which owed 
him ten thousand talents " (that is, nearly two millions, 
some think more than two millions, of our money) ; 
" but, forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord com- 
manded him to be sold, and his wife and children, and 
all that he had, and payment to be made." This seems 
a most severe penalty for insolvency, and yet it was a 
frequent practice among the Jews*, as we learn, both 
from various passages of the Old Testament, and from 
Josephus ; and we are told, by several intelligent tra- 
vellers, that insolvency is one of the causes of slavery 
in Africa at this very hour. So perfectly conformable to 
fact, and to the truth of history, is every circumstance 
that occurs in the sacred writings. " The servant, there- 
fore, fell down and worshipped him," prostrated him- 
self at his master's feet, and in the most moving terms 
besought him, " saying, Have patience with me, and I 
will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was 
moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave 
him the debt. But the same servant went out, and 
found one of his fellow servants which owed him an 
hundred pence" (a very trifling sum) ; " and he laid 
hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay 
me that thou owest." He assailed him with far greater 
violence and brutality than his lord had used towards 
himself for a debt of ten thousand talents. " And his 
fellow- servant fell down at his fee^ and besought him, 
saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all ; " 
the very same supplicating attitude, the very same af- 
fecting words that he had himself made use of towards 

* Exod. xxii, 3; Lev. xxv, 47, 
U3 



222 LECTURE XVI. 

his lord ; " and he would not, but went and cast him 
into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his 
fellow-servants saw what was done, they were very 
sorry ;" sorry for the sufferings of the unhappy debtor ; 
sorry for the disgrace brought on human nature by the 
unfeeling creditor ; " and they came and told unto their 
lord all ihat was done. Then his lord, after that he had 
called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I 
forgave thee all that debt because thou desiredst me ; 
shouldest not thou, also, have had compassion on thy 
fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee ? And his 
lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors 
till he should pay all that was due to him. So, like- 
wise, shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye 
from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their 
trespasses." 

Such is the parable of the unforgiving servant, which 
I am sure has not only been heard, but felt by every one 
here present. It requires no comment or explanation ; 
the bare repetition of it is sufficient : indeed, it cannot 
be expressed in any other words than its own, without 
impairing its beauty and its strength. Notwithstanding 
the frequency of its recurrence in the course of our 
church service, there is no one, I believe, that ever hears 
it without emotion and delight. Amidst so much excel- 
lence as we meet with in the Gospel, it is not easy to 
say what is most excellent ; but if I was to select any 
one parable of our Lord's as more interesting, more af- 
fecting, coming more home to the feelings, and pressing 
closer on the hearts of men than any of the rest, I think 
it would be this. Certain it is, that in all the charac- 
ters of excellence, in perspicuity, in brevity, in simpli- 
city, in pathos, in force, it has no equal in any human 
composition whatever. On its beauties, therefore, I 
shall not enlarge, but on its uses and its application to 
ourselves I must say a few words. 

And in the first place I would observe, that the ob- 
ject of this parable is not only to enforce the duty of 
cultivating a placable disposition, but a disposition con- 
stantly placable, always ready to forgive the offences of 
our brother, however frequently he may repeat those 
offences. For it was immediately after our Lord had 
told Peter that he was to forgive his brother, not merely 
seven times, but seventy times seven, that he added this 
parable to confirm that very doctrine ; therefore, says he, 
is the kingdom of heaven like unto a certain king, &c. 



MATTHEW XVIII. 223 

But then it is only upon this condition, that the offender 
is sincerely penitent, and entreats forgiveness. This is 
evident from the parallel passage in St. Luke, which ex- 
presses this condition : " If thy brother trespass against 
thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn 
again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive 
him*." Yet even this will to many people appear a 
hard saying, and will not very well agree with those 
high-spirited passions, and that keen sense of injuries, 
which too generally prevail, and which, instead of for- 
giving repeated offences, will listen to no entreaties, no 
expressions of contrition, even for a single one. But are 
you then content that your heavenly Father should deal 
out the same measure to you that you mete to your bro- 
ther? Are you content that one single offence should 
exclude you for ever from the arms of his mercy 1 Are 
you not every day heaping up sin upon sin? Do not you 
stand as much in need of daily forgiveness as you do of 
your daily bread ; and do you think it an excess of in- 
dulgence, an overstrained degree of tenderness and com- 
passion, that your Maker should pardon you seven times 
a day, or even seventy times seven 1 

2. In the next place I would remark, that this parable 
is a practical comment on that petition in the Lord's 
prayer, " forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them 
that trespass against us ; " and it shows what infinite 
stress our Divine Master lays on this duty of forgiveness, 
by the care he takes to enforce it in so many different 
ways, by this parable, by making it a part of our daily 
prayers, and by his repeated declarations, that we must 
expect no mercy from our Maker, " unless we from our 
hearts forgive every one his brother their trespasses t." 
To the same purpose are those irresistible words of 
St. Paul : " Be ye therefore kind one to another, tender 
hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's 
sake hath forgiven you}:." Let the hard-hearted, unre- 
lenting man of the world, or the obdurate, unforgiving 
parent, advert to these repeated admonitions, and then 
let him, if he can, indignantly spurn from him the re- 
penting offender entreating pardon at his feet in those 
heart-piercing words, " have patience with me, and I 
will pay thee all." 

And yet it is dreadful to state, as I must do in the last 
place, what very little regard is paid to this precept by a 
large part of mankind. 

* Luke xvii, 4. t Matt, xviii, 35. * Eph. iv, 32. 



224 LECTURE XVI. 

No man, I believe, ever heard or read the parable be- 
fore us without feeling his indignation rise against the 
ungrateful and unfeeling servant, who, after having a 
debt of ten thousand talents remitted to him by his in- 
dulgent lord, threw his fellow servant into prison for a 
debt of an hundred pence. And yet how frequently are 
we ourselves guilty of the very same offence 1 

Who is there among us, that has not had ten thousand 
talents forgiven him by his heavenly Father 1 Take to- 
gether all the offences of his life, all his sins and follies 
from the first hour of his maturity to the present time, 
and they may well be compared to this immense sum, 
which immense sum, if he has been a sincere penitent, 
has been all forgiven through the merits of his Redeemer. 
Vet when his fellow-christian owes him an hundred 
pence, when he commits the slightest offence against 
him, he too often refuses him forgiveness, though he fall 
at his feet to implore it. 

In fact, do we not every day see men resenting not 
only real injuries, but slight and even imaginary offences, 
with extreme vehemence and passion, and sometimes 
punishing the offender with nothing less than death 2 
Do we not even see families rent asunder, and all do- 
mestic tranquillity and comfort destroyed frequently by 
the most trivial causes, sometimes on one side, and some- 
times on both, refusing to listen to any reasonable over- 
tures of peace, haughtily rejecting all offers of recon- 
ciliation, insisting on the highest possible satisfaction 
and submission, and carrying these sentiments of im- 
placable rancour with them to the grave? And yet 
these people call themselves Christians, and expect to 
be themselves forgiven at the throne of mercy ! 

Let then every man of this description remember and 
most seriously reflect on this parable ; let him remember, 
that the unforgiving servant was delivered over to the 
tormentors till he should pay the uttermost farthing. 
Let him recollect, that all the world approves this sen- 
tence ; that he himself cannot but approve it ; that he 
cannot but feel himself to be precisely in the situation of 
that very servant ; and that of course he must, at the last 
tremendous day, expect that bitter and unanswerable 
reproach from his offended Judge ; " O thou wicked 
servant ! I forgave thee all that debt because thou de- 
siredst me ; shouldest not thou also have had compassion 
on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee ?" 



LECTURE XVIL 



MATTHEW XIX. 

The passage of Scripture, which I propose to explain in 
the present Lecture, is a part of the nineteenth chapter 
of St. Matthew, beginning at the sixteenth verse. 

"Behold," says the evangelist, "one came and said 
unto him (meaning Jesus), Good Master, what good 
thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life 1 And he 
said unto him, Why callest thou me good ! there is none 
good but one, that is, God : but if thou wilt enter into 
life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, 
Which 1 Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder; thou 
shalt not commit adultery ; thou shalt not steal ; thou 
shalt not bear false witness ; honour thy father and thy 
mother : and, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 
The young man saith unto him, all these things have I 
kept from my youth up ; what lack I yet 1 Jesus said 
unto him, if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou 
hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure 
in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the 
young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful ; 
for he had great possessions." 

The conversation here related between the young ruler 
(for so he is called by St. Luke) and our blessed Lord, 
cannot but be extremely interesting to every sincere 
Christian, who is anxious about his own salvation. A 
young man of high rank, and of large possessions, came 
with great haste and eagerness ; came running, as St . 
Mark expresses it, to Jesus ; and throwing himself at his 
feet, proposed to him this most important question ; 
" Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may 
have eternal life?" This was not a question of mere 
curiosity, or an insidious one, as the questions put to our 



226 LECTURE XVII. 

Lord (especially by the rulers) frequently were, but ap- 
pears to have been dictated by a sincere and anxious 
wish to be instructed in the way to that everlasting life, 
which he found Jesus held out to his disciples. His 
conduct had been conformable to the precepts of that 
religion in which he was born and educated, the religion 
of Moses ; for when our Lord pointed out to him the 
commandments he was to keep, his answer was, " all 
these things have I kept from my youth up;" and his 
disposition, also, we must conclude to have been an 
amiable one ; for we are told that Jesus loved him, beheld 
him with a certain degree of regard and affection. In 
this state of mind then he came to Jesus, and asked the 
question already stated ; " Good Master, what good 
thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life'?" 

Our Lord's answer was ; " If thou wilt enter into life, 
keep the commandments. The young man saith unto him, 
Which 1 Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder , thou shalt 
not commit adultery ; thou shalt not steal ; thou shalt not 
bear false witness ; honour thy father and thy mother : 
and, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." In this 
enumeration it is observable, that our Lord does not 
recite all the ten commandments, but only five out of 
those that compose what is called the second table. Now 
we cannot imagine that Jesus meant to say, that the ob- 
servation of a few of God's commands would put the 
young man in possession of eternal life. His intention 
unquestionably was, by a very common figure of speech, 
to make a part stand for the whole ; and instead of 
enumerating all the commandments, to specify only a 
few, which were to represent the rest. Thou shalt do 
no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, and so of all 
the other commandments, to which my reasoning equally 
applies. Nor does he only include in his injunction 
the ten commandments, but all the moral commandments 
of God contained in the law of Moses ; for he mentions 
one, which is not to be found in the ten commandments ; 
" Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." This there- 
fore points out to the young man his obligation to observe 
all the other moral precepts of the law. " The young 
man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from 
my youth up; what lack I yet?" The probability is, 
that he flattered himself he lacked nothing ; that his 
obedience to the moral law rendered him perfect, quali- 
fied him to become a disciple and follower of Christ 



MATTHEW XIX. 227 

here, and gave him a claim to a superior degree of feli- 
city hereafter. It was to repress these imaginations, 
which Jesus saw rising in his mind, that he gave him the 
following answer ; an answer which struck the young 
man with astonishment and grief, and which some have 
represented as more harsh and severe than his conduct 
merited. " If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou 
hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure 
in heaven : and come and follow me." In the parallel 
place of St. Mark, it is, " Come and take up the cross 
and follow me." The meaning is, although God is 
pleased to accept graciously your obedience to the moral 
law. yet you must not flatter yourself that your obedience 
is perfect ; and that this perfect obedience gives you a 
right or claim to eternal life: much less to a superior 
degree of reward in heaven ; far from it. To convince 
you how far you fall short of perfection , I will put your 
obedience to the test in a trying instance, and you shall 
then judge whether you are so perfect as yon suppose 
yourself. You say that yon have from your youth kept 
the moral laws delivered to you by Moses. Xow one 
of those laws is this, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy 
might." If, therefore, you pretend to perfection, you 
must observe this law as well as all the rest, and conse- 
quently yon must prefer his favour to every thing else ; 
you must be ready to sacrifice to his commands every 
thing that is most valuable to you in this world. I now, 
therefore, as a teacher sent from God, require you to 
sell all you have, and give to the poor, and follow me, 
and you shall then have treasure in heaven. The young 
man made no reply. He could not. He saw all his pre- 
tensions to perfection, his hopes of an extraordinary re- 
ward, vanish at once. He was not disposed to pur- 
chase even treasure in heaven at the price of all he pos- 
sessed on earth. He, therefore, went away silent and 
sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 

There is a question, which I suppose naturally arises 
in every man's mind, on reading this conversation be- 
tween the young ruler and Jesus. Does the injunction, 
here given to the young man by Jesus, relate to all Chris- 
tians in general? and are we all of us, without exception, 
bound to sell all that we have, and give to the poor, as 
a necessary condition of obtaining treasure in heaven 1 
The answer is, most assuredly not. Our Lord's command 



228 LECTURE XVII. 

refers solely to the individual person to whom he ad- 
dressed himself, or at the most to those who at that time 
became disciples of Christ. I have already shown, that 
our Saviour's object in giving this command to the young 
%nan, was probably to lower the high opinion he seemed 
to entertain of his perfect obedience to the law of Moses, 
to convince him that he was very far from that exalted 
state of piety and virtue to which he pretended, and that, 
if he was rewarded with eternal life, it must be, not in 
consequence of his own righteousness, but of the mercy 
of God, and the merits of a Redeemer, as yet unknown 
to him. 

But, besides this, it is not improbable, that the young 
ruler was ambitious to enlist under the banners of Christ, 
and to become one of his disciples and followers. And at 
that time no one could do this whose time and though ts were 
engaged in worldly concerns, and in the care, and ma- 
nagement, and attendant luxuries of a large fortune. Nor 
was this all ; every man, that embarked in so perilous an 
undertaking, did it at the risk, not only of his property, 
but even of life itself, from the persecuting spirit of the 
Jewish rulers. When> therefore, our Saviour says to the 
young man, " If thou wilt be perfect," that is, if thou art 
desirous to profess the more perfect religion of the Gos- 
pel, and to become one of my followers, " go and sell that 
thou hast, and give to the poor, and take up the cross and 
follow me ; " he only prepares him for the great hard- 
ships and dangers to which every follower of Christ was 
then exposed, and the necessity there was for him to sit 
loose to every thing most valuable in the present life. 

This command, therefore, does not in its primary 
meaning relate to Christians of the present times ; nor 
indeed to Christians at all, properly speaking, but to 
those who were at that time desirous of becoming so. 

But though, in a strict and literal sense, it cannot be 
applied to ourselves, yet in its principle and in its gene- 
ral import it conveys a most useful and most important 
lesson to Christians in every age and in every nation ; it 
is an admonition to them not to pique themselves too 
much on their exact obedience to all the Divine com- 
mands, not to assume to themselves so much perfection^ 
as to found upon it a right and a claim to eternal life ; 
not to rely solely on their own righteousness, but on the 
merits of their Redeemer, for acceptance and salvation. 
It reminds them also, that they ought always to be pre- 



MATTHEW XIX. 229 

pared to yield an implicit obedience to the commands of 
their Maker ; and that, if their duty to him should at any 
time require it, they should not hesitate to renounce their 
dearest interests, and most favourite pleasures ; to part 
with fame, with fortune, and even life itself; and, under 
all circumstances, to consider, in the first place, what it 
is that God requires at their hands, and to submit to it, 
whatever it may cost them, without a murmur. 

After this conversation with the younger ruler, follows 
the observation made by our Lord on this remarkable 
incident. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, " Verily 
I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into 
the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It 
is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, 
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. When 
his disciples heard it they were amazed, saying, Who 
then can be saved 1 But Jesus beheld them, and said 
unto them, With men this is impossible, but with God 
all things are possible." This sentence passed upon the 
rich is a declaration, which, if understood literally, and 
as applying to all Christians of the present day, who may 
justly be called rich, would be truly terrifying and alarm- 
ing to a very large description of men, a much larger than 
may at first perhaps be imagined. For by rich men must 
be understood, not only those of high rank and large pos- 
sessions, but those in every rank of life, who have any 
superfluity beyond what is necessary for the decent and 
comfortable support of themselves and their families. 
These are all to be considered as rich, in a greater or les3 
degree, and this of course must comprehend a very large 
part of the Christian world. Does then our Lord mean 
to say, that it is scarcely possible for such vast numbers 
of Christians to be saved? This does certainly at the 
first view seem to be implied in that very strong expres- 
sion, " that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye 
of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom 
of heaven." But it may fairly be presumed, that it was 
not our Lord's intention to pronounce so very severe and 
discouraging a sentence as this, and to render the way to 
heaven almost inaccessible to so very considerable a num- 
ber of his disciples. And in fact, on a careful considera- 
tion of this passage, of the limitations and abatements 
necessary to be made in proverbial expressions and ori- 
ental idioms, and of the explanations given of it in other 
parts of Scripture, and even by our Lord himself, it will 

X 



230 LECTURE XVII. 

appear, that there is nothing in it which ought to inspire 
terror and dismay into the heart of any sincere and real 
Christian, be his situation ever so exalted or affluent. 

It must be observed, then, in the first place, what is ex- 
ceedingly important in this inquiry, that, in its original 
application, this passage does not seem to have" attached 
upon those who were then actually disciples of Christ, 
but upon those only who were desirous of becoming so : 
for consider only the occasion which gave rise to this re- 
flection. It was that very incident on which we have 
just been commenting ; that of the young rich ruler, whom 
our Saviour exhorted to sell all that he had, and take up 
his cross and follow him. The young man, not relishing 
these conditions, instead of following Jesus, went away 
sorrowful, because he had great possessions. He there- 
fore never was, as far as we know, a disciple of Christ ; 
and it was upon this, that Jesus immediately declared, 
that " a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of 
heaven ; " that is, shall hardly be induced to embrace 
the Christian religion ; for that is frequently the signi- 
fication of the kingdom of heaven, in Scripture. What 
then our Lord affirmed was this, that it was extremely 
difficult at that time, at the first preaching of the Gospel, 
for any rich man to become a convert to Christianity. 
And this we may easily believe ; for those who were en- 
joying all the comforts, and elegancies, and luxuries of 
life, would not be very ready to sacrifice these, and sub- 
mit to poverty, hardships, persecutions, and even death 
itself, to which the first converts to Christianity were fre- 
quently exposed. They would, therefore, generally fol- 
low the example of the rich man before us ; would turn 
their backs on the kingdom of heaven, and go away to 
the world and its enjoyments. And this, in fact, we know 
to have been the case. For it was of the lower ranks of 
men that our Lord's disciples principally consisted ; and 
we are expressly told, that it was the common people 
chiefly that heard him gladly ; and even after his death, 
St. Paul asserts, that not many mighty, not many noble, 
were called. It should seem, then, that the primary ob- 
jects of this declaration were those rich men to whom 
the Gospel was then offered, and of whom very few em- 
braced it. And as no penal law ought to be stretched 
beyond its strict and literal sense, I do not conceive that 
we are authorized to apply this severe sentence to those 
opulent persons who now profess themselves Christians, 



MATTHEW XIX. 231 

and to say of them, that it is easier for a camel to go 
through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to in 
herit the rewards of heaven. Still, however, as the 
words themselves will perhaps bear such an application, 
it is not improbable that our Lord might have an eye to 
rich men in future professing Christianity, as well as to 
the rich men of those days, who were either Jews or 
Heathens. But if it does relate to rich Christians at all, 
I have no difficulty in saying, that it must be in a very 
qualified and mitigated sense of the words, such as shall 
not bar up the gates of heaven against any true believers 
in Christ, or inspire terror and despair, where friendly 
admonition was only meant. 

The first thing, then, to be remarked is, that although 
the similitude here made use of, that of a camel passing 
through the eye of a needle, implies absolute impossi- 
bility, yet, according to every rule of interpreting oriental 
proverbs (for such this is), it means only, in its appli- 
cation, great difficulty. And in this sense it was actually 
used both by the Jews and the Arabians ; and is plainly 
so interpreted by our Lord, when he says that a rich man 
shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 

But even in this sense the words do not apply to all 
rich men without distinction. For in the parallel place 
of St. Mark*, upon the disciples expressing their as- 
tonishment at our Lord's declaration, he immediately 
explains himself by saying, " How hard is it for them that 
trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of heaven : " and 
it is after this explanation, that the proverbial passage 
follows, "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye 
of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the king- 
dom of heaven." 

We see, then, that those rich men only are meant, who 
trust in their riches, who place their whole dependence 
upon them; whose views and hopes are centered in them 
and them only ; who place their whole happiness, not 
in relieving the distresses of the poor, and soothing the 
sorrows of the afflicted ; not in acts of worship and ado- 
ration, and thanksgiving to Him from whose bounty they 
derive every blessing they enjoy ; not in giving him their 
hearts, and dedicating their wealth to his glory and his 
service, but in amassing it without end, or squandering- 
it without any benefit to mankind, in making it the in- 

* Mark x, 24. 



232 LECTURE XVII. 

strument of pleasure, of luxury, of dissipation, of vice, 
and the means of gratifying every irregular appetite and 
passion without control. These are the rich men, whose 
salvation is represented by our Saviour to be almost im- 
possible ; and yet even with respect to these he adds, 
" With men this is impossible, but with God all things 
are possible;' 7 that is, although if we look to human 
means, to human strength alone, it seems utterly im- 
possible that such men as these should ever repent and 
be saved ; yet to the power of God, to the over-ruling 
influences of the Holy Spirit, nothing is impossible. His 
grace shed abroad in the heart may touch it with com- 
punction and remorse, may awaken it to penitence, may 
heal all its corruptions, may illuminate, may purify, may 
sanctify it, may bring the most worldly-minded man to a 
sense of his condition, and make him transfer his trust 
from riches to the living God. 

It is, then, to those that trust in riches that this de- 
nunciation of our Lord peculiarly applies ; but even to 
all rich men in general it holds out this most important 
admonition, that their situation is at the best a situation 
of difficulty and danger ; that their riches furnish them 
with so many opportunities of indulging every wayward 
wish, every corrupt propensity of their hearts, and spread 
before them so many temptations, so many incitements, 
so many provocations to luxury, intemperance, sensua- 
lity, pride, forgetfulness of God, and contempt of every 
thing serious and sacred, that it is sometimes too much 
for human nature to bear ; that they have therefore pe- 
culiar need to take heed to their ways, to watch inces- 
santly over their own conduct, to keep their hearts with 
all diligence, to guard the issues of life and death, and, 
above all, to implore with unceasing earnestness and fer- 
vour that help from above, those communicatfons of di- 
vine grace, which can alone enable them, and which will 
effectually enable them, to overcome the world, and to 
vanquish all the powerful enemies they have to contend 
with. They have, in short, their way plainly marked out 
to them in Scripture, and the clearest directions given 
them how they are to conduct themselves so as to be- 
come partakers of everlasting life, " Charge them," says 
St. Paul, " that are rich in this world, that they be not 
high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the 
living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that 
they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to 



MATTHEW XIX. 233 

distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for 
themselves a good foundation against the time to come, 
that they may lay hold on eternal life*." 

This striking charge to the rich is pregnant with most 
important and wholesome counsel, and is an admirable 
comment on that very passage, which has so long en- 
gaged our attention. It seems, indeed, to allude and re- 
fer to it, and points out all those distinctions, which tend 
to explain away its seeming harshness, and ascertain its 
true spirit and meaning. 

It cautions the rich men of the world not to trust in 
uncertain riches : the very expression made use of by 
our Lord, and the very circumstance, which renders it 
so hard for them to enter into the kingdom of heaven. 
They are enjoined to place their trust in the living 
God. They are to be rich in a far brighter treasure than 
gold and silver, in faith and in good works ; and if they 
are, they will " lay a good foundation against the time 
to come, and will lay hold on eternal life." This en- 
tirely does away all the terror, all the dismay, which 
our Lord's denunciation might tend to produce in the 
minds of the wealthy and the great : it proves, that the 
way to heaven is as open to them, as to all other ranks 
and conditions of men, and it points out to them the 
very means by which they may arrive there. These 
means are, trust in the living God, dedication of them- 
selves to his service and his glory, zeal in every good 
work, and more particularly the appropriation of a large 
part of that very wealth, which constitutes their danger, 
to the purposes of piety, charity, and beneficence. These 
are the steps by which they must, through the merits of 
their Redeemer, ascend to Heaven. Those riches, which 
are their natural enemies, must be converted into allies 
and friends. They must, as the Scripture expresses it, 
make to themselves '* friends of the mammon of un- 
righteousness t f' they must be rich towards God ; they 
must turn that wealth, which is too often the cause of 
their perdition, into an instrument of salvation, into an 
instrument, by which they may lay hold, as the apostle 
expresses it, on eternal life. 

Before I quit this interesting passage, it may be of use 
to observe, that wdiile it furnishes a lesson of great cau- 
tion, vigilance, and circumspection to the rich, it affords 

* 1 Tim. vi, 17— 19. f Lake xvi, 9. 

X 3 



234 LECTURE XVII. 

also no small degree of consolation to the poor. If they 
are less bountifully provided than the rich, with the 
materials of happiness for the present life, let them, 
however, be thankful to Providence, that they have 
fewer difficulties to contend with, fewer temptations to 
combat, and fewer obstacles to surmount in their way to 
the life which is to come. They have fortunately no 
means of indulging themselves in that luxury and dissi- 
pation, those extravagances and excesses, which some- 
times disgrace the wealthy and the great ; and they are 
preserved from many follies, imprudences, and sins, 
equally injurious to present comfort and future happi- 
ness. If they are destitute of all the elegances, and 
many of the conveniences and accommodations of life, 
they are also exempt from those cares and anxieties, 
which frequently corrode the heart, and perhaps more 
than balance the enjoyments of their superiors. The in- 
feriority of their condition secures them from all the 
dangers and all the torments of ambition and pride ; it 
produces in them generally that meekness and lowliness 
of mind, which is the chief constituent of a true evan- 
gelical temper, and one of the most essential qualifica- 
tions for the kingdom of heaven. 

Jesus having made these observations on the conduct 
of the young ruler, who refused to part with his wealth 
and follow him, Peter thought this a fair opportunity of 
asking our Lord what reward should be given to him 
and the other apostles, who had actually done what the 
young ruler had not the courage and the virtue to do. 
" Then answered Peter and said unto him, Lo ! we have 
forsaken all, and followed thee ; what shall we have 
therefore 1 " It is true the apostles had no wealth to re- 
linquish, but what little they had they cheerfully parted 
with ; they gave up their all, they took up their cross 
and folio ;ved Christ. Surely after such a sacrifice they 
might well be allowed to ask what recompense they 
might expect, and nothing can be more natural and af- 
fecting than their appeal to their Divine Master : " Be- 
hold, tve have forsaken all, and followed thee ; what shall 
w e have therefore V Our Lord felt the force and the 
justice of this appeal, and immediately gave them this 
most gracious and consolatory answer: "Verily I say 
unto you, that ye, which have followed me in the re- 
generation, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne 
of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judg- 



MATTHEW XIX. 235 

ing the twelve tribes of Israel : and every one that hath 
forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or 
mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's 
sake, shall receive an hundred-fold, and shall inherit 
everlasting life." 

Our translators, by connecting the word regeneration 
with the preceding words, " ye which have- followed 
me in the regeneration," evidently supposed that word 
to relate to the first preaching of the Gospel, when those 
who heard and received it were to be regenerated, or 
made new creatures. 

But most of the ancient fathers, as well as the best 
modern commentators, refer that expression to the words 
that follow it, " in the regeneration, when the Son of 
Man shall sit in the throne of his glory ; " by which is 
meant the day of judgment and of recompense, when 
all mankind shall be as it were regenerated or born 
again, by rising from their graves ; and when, as 
St. Matthew tells us, in the twenty-fifth chapter (mak- 
ing use of the very same phrase that he does here), the 
Son of Man shall sit on the throne of his glory. At that 
solemn hour Jesus tells his apostles, that they shall also 
sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of 
Israel. This is an allusion to /the custom of princes 
having their great men ranged around them as assessors 
and advisers when they sit in council or in judgment ; 
or more probably to the Jewish sanhedrim, in which the 
high priest sat surrounded by the principal rulers, chief 
priests, and doctors of the law ; and it was meant only 
to express, in these figurative terms, that the apostles 
should in the kingdom of heaven have a distinguished 
pre-eminence of glory and reward, and a place of honour 
assigned them near the person of our Lord himself. 

Jesus then goes on to say, " every one, that hath for- 
saken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mo- 
ther, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, 
shall receive an hundred-fold, and shall inherit everlast- 
ing life." It is plain, both from the construction of this 
verse, and from the express words of St. Mark in the 
parallel passage, that the reward here promised to the 
apostles, whatever it might be, was to be bestowed in 
the present world ; besides which they were to inherit 
everlasting life. 

What, then, it may be asked, is this recompense, 
which was to take place in tb* present life, and was to 



236 LECTURE XVII. 

be an hundred-fold ? It certainly cannot be an hundred- 
fold of those worldly advantages, which are supposed to 
be relinquished for the sake of Christ and his religion ; 
for a multiplication of several of these things, instead of 
a reward, would have been an incumbrance. And we 
know in fact the apostles never did abound in worldly 
possessions, but were for the most part destitute and 
poor. The recompense, then, here promised must have 
been of a very different nature ; it is that internal con- 
tent and satisfaction of mind, that peace of God, v/hich 
passeth all understanding, those delights of a pure con- 
science and an upright heart, that affectionate support 
of all good men, those consolations of the Holy Spirit, 
that trust and confidence in God, that consciousness of 
the Divine favour and approbation, those reviving hopes 
of everlasting glory, which every good man and sincere 
Christian never fails to experience in the discharge of 
his duty. These are the things, which will cheer his 
heart and sustain his spirits, amidst all the discourage- 
ments he meets with, under the pressure of want, of 
poverty, of affliction, of calumny, of ridicule, of perse- 
cution, and even under the terrors of death itself, which 
will recompense him an hundred-fold for all the sacrifices 
he has made to Christ and his religion, and impart to 
him a degree of comfort, and tranquillity, and happiness, 
far beyond any thing, that all the wealth and splendour 
of this world can bestow. That this is not a mere ideal 
representation, we may see in the example of those very 
persons to whom this discourse of our Saviour was ad- 
dressed. We may see a picture of the felicity here de- 
scribed, drawn by the masterly hand of St. Paul, in his 
Second Epistle to the Corinthians : " We are," says he 
(speaking of himself and his fellow-labourers in the 
Gospel), " we are approving ourselves in much pa- 
tience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in 
stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in 
watchings, in fastings ; by pureness, by knowledge, by 
long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love 
unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God p 
by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on 
the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and 
good report ; as deceivers, and yet true ; as unknown, 
and yet well known ; as dying, and, behold, we live ; as 
chastened, and not killed ; as sorrowful, yet always re- 
joicing ; as poor, yet making many rich ; as having no-/ 



MATTHEW XIX. 237 

thing, and yet possessing all things." We have here a 
portrait, not merely of patience and fortitude, but of 
cheerfulness and joy under the acutest sufferings, which 
is nowhere to be met with in the writings of the most 
celebrated heathen philosophers. The utmost that they 
pretended to was a contempt of pain, a determination 
not to be subdued by it, and not even to acknowledge 
that it was an evil ; but w r e never hear them expressing 
that cheerfulness and joy under suffering, which we 
here see in the apostles and first disciples of Christ. In- 
deed it was impossible, that they should rise to these 
extraordinary exertions of the human mind, since they 
wanted all those supports, which bore up the apostles 
under the severest calamities, and raised them above all 
the common weaknesses and infirmities of their nature ; 
namely, the consciousness of being embarked in the 
greatest and noblest undertaking that ever engaged the 
mind of man, an unbounded trust and confidence in the 
protection of Heaven, a large participation of the divine 
influences and consolations of the Holy Spirit, and a firm 
and well-grounded hope of an eternal reward in another 
life, which would infinitely overpay all their labour and 
their sorrows in this. These were the sources of that 
content and cheerfulness, that vigour and vivacity of 
mind, under the severest afflictions, which nothing could 
depress, and which nothing but Christian philosophy 
could produce. 

Here, then, we have a full explanation of our Lord's 
promise in the passage before us, that every one, who 
had forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or 
mother, or w r ife, or children, or lands, for his name's 
sake, should receive an hundred -fold, should receive 
abundant recompense in the comfort of their own minds, 
as described in the corresponding passage of St. Paul, 
just cited ; which may be considered, not only as an ad- 
mirable comment on our Lord's declaration, but as an 
exact fulfilment of the prediction contained in it. For 
that declaration is plainly prophetic ; it foretels the per- 
secution his disciples would meet w T ith in the discharge 
of their duty ; and foretels also, that in the midst of 
these persecutions they would be undaunted and joyful. 
And there cannot be a more perfect completion of any 
prophecy, than that which St. Paul's description sets 
before us with respect to this. 

But we must not confine this promise of our Saviour's 



238 LECTURE XVII. 

to his own immediate followers and disciples ; it extends 
to all his faithful servants in every age and nation of the 
world, that part with any thing, which is dear and 
valuable to them, for the sake of the Gospel. Whoever 
has passed any time in the world must have seen, that 
every man, who is sincere in the profession of his re- 
ligion, who sets God always before him, and who seeks 
above all things his favour and approbation, must some- 
times make great and painful sacrifices to the commands 
of his Maker and Redeemer; and whoever does so, 
whoever gives up his pleasures, his interests, his fame, 
his favourite pursuits, his fondest wishes, and his strong- 
est passions, for the sake of his duty, and in conformity 
to the will of his heavenly Father, may rest assured, 
that he shall in no wise lose his reward. He shall, in 
a degree proportioned to the self-denial he has exercised, 
and the sufferings he has undergone, experience the pre- 
sent comfort and support here promised to the apostles ; 
and shall also, though not to the same extent, have an 
extraordinary recompense in the kingdom of heaven. 

Let no one then be deterred from persevering in the 
path of duty, whatever discouragements, difficulties, or 
obstructions he may meet with in his progress, either 
from the struggles he has with his own corrupt affections, 
or from the malevolence of the world. Let him not fear 
to encounter what he must expect to meet with, oppo- 
sition, contumely, contempt, and ridicule ; let him not 
fear the enmity of profligate and unprincipled men ; but 
let him go on undaunted and undismayed in that uni- 
form tenour of piety and benevolence, of purity, in^ 
tegrity, and uprightness of conduct, which will not fail 
to bring him peace at the last. Let him not be surprised 
or alarmed if he is not exempt from the common lot of 
every sincere and zealous Christian ; if he finds it, by 
his own experience, to be true, what an apostle of Christ 
had long since prepared him to expect, that whosoever 
will live godly in Christ Jesus shall, in one way or other, 
suffer "persecution. But let him remember at the same 
time the reviving and consolatory declaration of his Di- 
vine Master ; " Blessed are ye when men shall revile 
you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil 
against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice, and be ex- 
ceeding glad ; for great is your reward in heaven." 



LECTURE XVIII. 



MATTHEW XXII. 

I now pass on to the twenty-second chapter of St. Mat- 
thew, in which our blessed Lord introduces the following 
parable : — 

" The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, 
which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his 
servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding, 
and they would not come. Again he sent forth other 
servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I 
have prepared my dinner ; my oxen and my fatlings are 
killed, a.nd all things are ready ; come unto the marriage. 
But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to 
his farm, another to his merchandize ; and the remnant 
took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and 
slew them. But when the king- heard thereof he was 
wroth } and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those 
murderers, and burnt up their city. Then saith he to 
his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were 
bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the high- 
ways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. 
So those servants went out into the highways, and ga- 
thered together all, as many as they could find, both bad 
and good, and the wedding was furnished with guests. 
And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw 
there a man, which had not on a wedding garment. And 
he saith unto him, Friend, how earnest thou in hither, 
not having on a wedding garment? and he was speech- 
less. Then said the king to his servants, Bind him hand 
and foot, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall 
be weeping and gnashing of teeth : for many are called, 
but few are chosen." 

The primary and principal object of this parable is to 



240 LECTURE XVIII. 

represent, under the image of a marriage feast, the invi- 
tation given to the Jews to embrace the Gospel, their re- 
jection of that gracious offer, the severe punishment in- 
flicted upon them for their ingratitude and obstinacy, and 
the admission of the heathens to the privileges of Chris- 
tianity in their room. 

" The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, 
which made a marriage for his son." 

That is, the dispensations of the Almighty, with re- 
spect to the Christian religion, which is called the king- 
dom of heaven, may be compared to the conduct of a 
certain king, who (as was the custom in those times, 
especially among the eastern nations) gave a splendid 
feast in consequence of his son's marriage. And in this 
comparison there is a peculiar propriety, because both 
the Jewish and the Christian covenant are frequently 
represented in Scripture under the similitude of a mar- 
riage contract between God and his people*. " And he 
sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to 
the wedding, and they would not come. Again he sent 
forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bid- 
den, Behold, I have prepared my dinner ; my oxen and 
my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready ; come 
unto the marriage." This signifies the various and re- 
peated offers of the Gospel to the Jews ; first by John 
the Baptist, then by our Saviour himself, then by his 
apostles and the seventy disciples, both before and after 
his ascension. 

But all these gracious offers the greater part of the 
nation rejected with scorn. They would not come to the 
marriage ; they made light of it, and went their ways, 
one to his farm, another to his merchandize ; and the 
remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, 
and slew them. They not only slighted and treated with 
contempt the words of eternal life, and preferred the 
pleasures and the interests of the present life to all the 
joys of heaven, but they pursued with unceasing rancour 
the first preachers of the Gospel, and persecuted them 
even unto death. 

" But when the king heard thereof he was wroth ; and 
he sent forth his armies, and destroyed these murderers, 
and burnt up their city." This points out, in the plain- 
est terms, the Roman armies under Vespasian and Titus, 

* See Isaiah liv, 5 ; Jer. iii, 8; Matt, xxv, 5 ; 2 Cor. xi, 2, 



MATTHEW XXII. 241 

which, not many years after this was spoken, besieged 
Jerusalem, and destroyed the city, and slaughtered an 
immense number of the inhabitants. This terrible de- 
vastation our Lord here predicts in general terms, as he 
does more particularly and minutely in the twenty-fourth 
chapter ; and he here represents it as the judgment of 
God on this perverse and obstinate people for their rejec- 
tion of the Christian religion, their savage treatment of 
the apostles and their associates, and their many other 
atrocious crimes. This punishment, however, is here, 
by anticipation, represented as having been inflicted 
during the marriage feast ; though it did not in fact take 
place till afterwards, till after the Gospel had been for 
some time promulgated. 

"Then said he to his servants, The wedding is ready, 
but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye 
therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall 
find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out 
into the highways, and gathered together all, as many as 
they found, both bad and good; and the wedding was 
furnished with guests." 

It may be thought, perhaps, at the first view, that our 
Lord has here introduced a circumstance not very natu- 
ral or probable. It may be imagined, that, at a magni- 
ficent royal entertainment, if any of the guests happened 
to fail in their attendance, a great king woul^ never 
think of supplying their places by sending his servants 
into the highways to collect together all the travellers 
and strangers they could meet with, and make them sit 
down at the marriage feast. But, strange as this may 
seem, there is something that approaches very near to it 
in the customs of the eastern nations, even in modern 
times. For a traveller of great credit and reputation, 
Dr. Pococke, informs us, that an Arab prince will often 
dine in the street before his door, and call to all that 
pass, even to beggars, in the name of God, and they 
come and sit down to table ; and when they have done, 
retire with the usual form of returning thanks*. 

This adds one more proof to the many others I have 
already pointed out in the course of these Lectures, of 
the exact correspondence of the various facts and cir- 
cumstances recorded in the sacred writings to the truth 

* Pococke, vol. i, pp. 57 and 182. See also Diod. Sic. lib. xiii,- 
pp. 37 '.% 376. 

Y 



242 LECTURE XVIII. 

of history, and to ancient oriental customs and man- 
ners. 

This part of the parable alludes to the calling in of the 
Gentiles, or heathens, to the privileges of the Gospel, 
after they had been haughtily rejected by the Jews. 
This was first done by St. Peter, in the instance of Cor- 
nelius, and afterwards extended to the Gentiles at large 
by him and the other apostles, conformably to what our 
Lord declares in another place: "Many shall come from 
the east and from the west, and shall sit down with 
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God ; 
but the children of the kingdom," that is, the Jews, 
" shall be shut out*." And in this gracious invitation, 
no exceptions, no distinctions, were to be made. The 
servants gathered together all, as many as they found, 
both bad and good ; men of all characters and descrip- 
tions were to have the offers of mercy and salvation 
made to them, even the very worst of sinners : for it 
was these chiefly that our Saviour came to call to re- 
pentance ; "for they tha,t are whole need not a physi- 
cian, but they that are sickt:" and of these, great 
numbers did actually embrace the gracious offers made 
to them ; for our Lord told the Jews, " the publicans 
and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before 

In this manner was the wedding furnished with guests. 
f< And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw 
there a man which had not on a wedding garment ; and 
he said unto him, Friend, how earnest thou in hither, 
not having a wedding garment ? and he was speechless. 
Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and 
foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer dark- 
ness ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth : for 
many are called, but few are ehosen." 

In order to understand this part of the parable, it 
must be observed, that among the ancients, especially in 
the East, every one that came to a marriage feast was 
expected to appear in a handsome and elegant dress, 
which was called the wedding garment. This was fre- 
quently a white robe ; and where the guest was a stranger, 
or was not able to provide such a robe, it was usual for 
the master of the feast to furnish him with one ; and if 
he who gave the entertainment was of high rank and 

* Mutt, viii, II. f lb. ix, 12. t lb. xxi, 31. 



MATTHEW XXII. 243 

great opulence, he sometimes provided marriage robes 
for the whole assembly. To this custom we have allu- 
sions in Homer, and other classic writers * ; and there 
are some traces of it in the entertainments of the Turkish 
court at this very day t. It must be remarked also, that 
it was in a very high degree indecorous and offensive to 
good manners, to intrude into the festivity without this 
garment ; hence the indignation of the king against the 
bold intruder, who dared to appear at the marriage 
feast without the nuptial garment. " He was cast into 
outer darkness ;" was driven away from the blaze and 
splendour of the gay apartments within, to the darkness 
and gloom of the street, where he was left to unavailing 
grief and remorse for the offence he had committed, and 
the enjoyments he had lost. 

This man was meant to be the representative of those 
presumptuous persons, who intrude themselves into the 
Christian covenant, and expect to receive all the privi- 
leges and all the rewards annexed to it, without possess- 
ing any one of those Christian graces and virtues, which 
the Gospel requires from all those who profess to believe 
and to embrace it. Nothing is more common in Scrip- 
ture than to represent the habits and dispositions of the 
mind, those which determine and distinguish the whole 
character, under the figure of bodily garments and ex- 
ternal habits. Thus Job says of himself, " I put on 
righteousness, and it clothed me : my judgment was as 
a robe and a diadem |." And again, in Isaiah it is said, 
" He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation ; 
he hath covered me with a robe of righteousness ; as a 
bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a 
bride adorneth herself with jewels §." In the same 
manner we are commanded in the Gospel to put on cha- 
rity, to be clothed with humility ; and, in the book of Re- 
velation ||, the elders are described as sitting before the 
throne of God, clothed in white raiment. And in the 
nineteenth chapter there is a passage, which is a clear 
and beautiful illustration of that now before us : " The 
marriage of the Lamb is come ; and to her," that is, to 
the Church, " was granted, that she should be arrayed 

* Odyss. viii, 402 ; Diod Sie, lib. xiii, pp. 375, 376. 

t At the entertainment given by the Grand Vizier to Lord Elgin 
and his suite, in the palace of the seraglio, pelisses were given to all 
the guests. 

t Job. xxiv, 14. § Isaiah lxi, 10. || Chap, iv, 4, 



244 LECTURE XVIII. 

in fine linen, clean and white ;" and this fine linen, we 
are expressly told, is the righteousness of saints. " And 
he saith unto me, Write, blessed are they which are 
called to the marriage supper of the Lainb ;" that is, of 
Christ the king *. This is a plain allusion to the parable 
before us ; and most evidently shows, that the man 
without the wedding garment is every man, that is not 
clothed with the robe of righteousness ; every man that 
pretends to be a Christian, without possessing the true 
evangelical temper and disposition of mind, without the 
virtues of a holy life ; every one that expects to be saved 
by Christ, yet regards not the conditions on which that 
salvation depends ; every profane, every unjust, every 
dissolute man; every one, in short, that presumes to 
say, "Lord, Lord, yet doeth not the will of his Father 
which is in heaven t." All these shall be excluded from 
the marriage feast, from the privileges of the Gospel, 
and the joys of heaven, and shall be cast into outer 
darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth ; 
for many, we are told, are called, but few are chosen ; 
that is, many are called upon and invited to embrace the 
Gospel ; but few, comparatively speaking, receive it, or 
at least conduct themselves in a manner suitable to their 
high and heavenly calling, so as to be chosen, or deemed 
worthy to inherit the kingdom of heaven. 

I have only to observe farther on this parable, that 
although in its primary intention it relates solely to the 
Jews, yet it has, like many other of our Lord's parables,, 
a secondary reference to persons of every denomination, 
in every age and nation, who, through indolence, pre- 
judice, vanity, pride, or vice, reject the Christian reve- 
lation ; or who, professing to receive it, live in direct 
opposition to its docrines and its precepts. The same 
future punishment, which is denounced against the un- 
believing or hypocritical Jews, will be with equal seve- 
rity inflicted on them. 

After Jesus had delivered this parable, the Pharisees, 
perceiving plainly that it was directed against them 
principally, were highly incensed, and determined to 
take their revenge, and endeavour to bring him into 
difficulty and danger by ensnaring questions. " Then 
went, the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might 
entangle him in his talk. And they sent out unto him 

* Hev. xix, 7, 8-, 9. t Matt, vii, 21. 



MATTHEW XXIL 245 

their disciples, with the Herodians, saying, Master, we 
know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God 
in truth ; neither carest thou for any man, for thou re- 
gardest not the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what 
thinkest thou 1 Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, 
or not! But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, 
Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Show me the tribute 
money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he 
saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? 
They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, 
Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Cae- 
sar's, and unto God the things which are God's. When 
they heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, 
and went their way." In order to understand the insi- 
dious nature of the question here proposed to Jesus, it 
must be observed, that the Jews were at this time, as 
they had been for many years, under the dominion of 
the Romans ; and, as an acknowledgment of their sub- 
jection, paid them an annual tribute in money. The 
Pharisees, however, were adverse to the payment of 
this tribute ; and contended, that, being the peculiar 
people of God, and he their only rightful sovereign, they 
ought not to pay tribute to any foreign prince whatever : 
they considered themselves as subjects of the Almighty, 
and released from all obedience to any foreign power. 
There were many others who maintained a contrary opi- 
nion, and it was a question much agitated among dif- 
ferent parties. Who the Herodians were, that accom- 
panied the Pharisees, and what their sentiments were 
on this subject, is very doubtful : nor is it a matter of 
any moment. It is plain, from their name, that they 
were in some way or other attached to Herod : and as he 
was a friend to the Roman government, they probably 
maintained the propriety of paying the tribute*. 

In this state of things both the Pharisees and Hero- 
dians came to Jesus, and after some flattering and hypo- 
critical compliments to his love of truth, his intrepidity, 
impartiality, and disregard to power and greatness (cal- 
culated evidently to spirit him up to some bold and of- 
fensive declaration of his opinion), they put this question 
to him ; " Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not ? " 

* Those, whom St. Mark calls " the leaven of Herod," chap.viii, 
15, St. Matthew, in the parallel passage (xvi, 5), calls Sadducees. 
Hence, perhaps, we may infer, that the Herodians and the Saddu- 
cees were the same persons. 

Y 3 



246 LECTURE XVIII. 

They were persuaded, that, in answering this question, 
he must either render himself odious to the Jewish peo- 
ple, by opposing their popular notions of liberty, and 
appearing to pay court to the emperor ; or, on the other 
hand, give offence to that prince, and expose himself to 
the charge of sedition and disaffection to the Roman go- 
vernment, by denying their right to the tribute they had 
imposed. They conceived it impossible for him to ex- 
tricate himself from this dilemma, or to escape danger 
on one side or the other ; and perhaps no other person 
but himself could have eluded the snare that was laid 
for him. But he did it completely ; and showed on this 
occasion, as he had done on many others, that presence 
of mind and readiness of reply to difficult unexpected 
questions, which is one of the strongest proofs of supe- 
rior wisdom, of a quick discernment, and a prompt de- 
cision. He pursued, in short, the method which he had 
adopted in similar instances ; he compelled the Jews in 
effect to answer the question themselves, and to take 
from him all the odium attending the determination of 
it. He perceived their wickedness, and said " Why 
tempt ye me 1 Why do you try to ensnare me, ye hy- 
pocrites *? Show me the tribute money. And they 
brought unto him a penny (a small silver coin of the 
Romans called a denarius). And he said unto them, 
Whose is this image and superscription? And they said 
unto him, Caesar's." By admitting that this was Caesar's 
coin, and by consenting to receive it as the current coin 
of their country, they in fact acknowledged their sub- 
jection to his government. For the right of coinage, and 
of issuing the coin, and giving value and currency to it, 
is one of the highest prerogatives and most decisive 
marks of sovereignty : and it was a tradition of their 
own rabbins, that to admit the impression and the in- 
scription of any prince on their current coin was an ac- 
knowledgment of their subjection to him. And it was 
more particularly so in the present instance, because we 
are told, that the denarius paid by the Jews as tribute- 
money had an inscription round the head of Caesar, to 
this effect ; " Caesar Augustus, Judaea being subdued** ' 
To pay this coin, with this inscription, v/as the com- 
pletest acknowledgment of subjection, and of course of 
their obligation to pay the tribute demanded of them, 

* See Hammond, in loc. 



MATTHEW XXII 247 

that could be imagined. Our Lord's decision therefore 
was a necessary consequence of their own concession. 
" Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are 
Caesar's" (which you yourselves acknowledge to be Cae- 
sar's), " and unto God the things that are God's. And 
when they heard these words, they marvelled ; they 
were astonished at his prudence and address ; and left 
him, and went their way." 

But in this answer of our Saviour is contained a much 
stronger proof of his consummate wisdom and discretion 
than has yet been mentioned. He not only disengaged 
himself from the difficulties in which the question was 
meant to involve him, but, without entering into any 
political discussions, he laid down two doctrines of the 
very last importance to the peace and happiness of man- 
kind, and the stability of civil government. He made 
a clear distinction between the duties we owe to God, 
and the duties we owe to our earthly rulers. He showed 
that they did not, in the smallest degree, interfere or 
clash with each other ; and that we ought never to re- 
fuse what is justly due to Caesar, under pretence of its 
being inconsistent with what we owe to our Maker. 

On the contrary, he lays down this as a general fun- 
damental rule of his religion, that we ought to pay obe- 
dience to lawful authority, and submit to that ac- 
knowledged and established government under which 
we live. The Jews had for a hundred years acknow- 
ledged their subjection, and paid their tribute to the 
Roman government ; and our Lord's decision therefore 
was, " Render unto Caesar the things which are Cse- 
sar's." It is true, that the tyrant Tiberius was then em- 
peror of Rome, but the Jews alleged no particular griev- 
ance or act of oppression to justify their refusal of tri- 
bute ; and our Lord had no concern with any peculiar 
form of government. His decision would have been the 
same had the Roman republic then existed. His doc- 
trine was obedience to lawful authority, in whatever 
shape that authority might be exercised. If it be con- 
tended, that there may be extraordinary cases of ex- 
treme and intolerable tyranny, which burst asunder at 
once the bonds of civil subordination, and justify re- 
sistance ; the answer is, that these were considerations 
into which the Divine Founder of our religion did not 
think it wise or expedient to enter. He left them to be 
decided (as they always must be) at the moment, bv th^ 



246 LECTURE XVIII 

pressing exigences and peculiar circumstances of the 
case, operating on the common feelings and common 
sense of mankind. His great object was to lay down 
one broad fundamental rule, which, considered as a ge- 
neral and leading principle, would be most conducive 
to the peace, the comfort, and the security of mankind ; 
and that rule most indisputably is the very doctrine 
which he inculcated : obedience to lawful authority 
and established government. In perfect conformity 
to his sentiments, the apostles held the same language 
after his death. " Submit yourselves," says St. Peter, 
" to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake ; whe- 
ther it be unto the king, as supreme ; or unto governors, 
as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of 
evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well *." 
" Be subject to principalities and powers," says St. Paul, 
" and obey magistrates f ." " Ye must needs be subject, not 
only for wrath, but also for conscience sake £." " Render 
therefore to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is 
due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honour 
to whom honour §." Here, then, we see the whole weight 
of the Gospel and of its Divine Author thrown into the 
scale of lawful authority. Here we see, that the Chris- 
tian religion comes in as a most powerful auxiliary to the 
civil magistrate, and lends the entire force of its sanc- 
tions to the established government of every country ; 
an advantage of infinite importance to the peace and 
welfare of society. And happy had it been for man- 
kind, if in this, as in every other instance, they had con- 
formed to the directions of the Gospel, instead of in- 
dulging their own wild projects and destructive theories 
of resistance to civil government, and the subversion of 
the most ancient and venerable institutions. Happy 
had it been for the Jews in particular, if they had 
adopted our Saviour's advice ; for by acting contrary to 
it, by breaking out, as they did soon after, into open re- 
bellion against the Romans, they plunged themselves 
into a most cruel and sanguinary war, which ended in 
the entire overthrow of their city, their temple, and their 
government, and the destruction of vast multitudes of 
the people themselves. Similar calamities have, we 
know, in other countries, arisen from similar causes ; 

* 1 Peter ii, 13, 14. t Tit. iii, i. 

% TIotts. xiii, 9. & Horn, xiii, 7. 



MATTHEW XXII. 249 

from a contempt of all legitimate authority, and a 'direct 
opposition to those sage and salutary precepts of the 
Gospel, which are no less calculated to preserve the 
peace, tranquillity, security, and good order of civil so- 
ciety, than to promote the individual happiness of every 
human being, here and for ever. 

The Pharisees having been thus completely foiled in 
their attempt to ensnare and entangle our Saviour in his 
talk, the next attempt made upon him was by a differ- 
ent set of men, the Sadducees, who disbelieved a re- 
surrection, a future state, and the existence of the soul 
after death. And their object was to show the absurdity 
and the falsehood of these doctrines, by stating a dif- 
ficulty respecting them, which they conceived to be in- 
superable. The difficulty was this : M The same day 
came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no 
resurrection, and asked him, saying, Master, Moses said 
if a man die having no children, his brother shall 
marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 
Xow there were with us seven brethren : and the first, 
when he had married a wife, deceased, and having no 
issue left his wife unto his brother : likewise the second 
also, and the third, unto the seventh : and last of all the 
woman died also : therefore, in the resurrection, whose 
wife shall she be of the seven \ for they all had her. 
Jesus answered and said unto them, le do err, not 
knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God : for in the 
resurrection they neither marry* nor are given in mar- 
riage, but are as the angels in heaven. But as touching 
the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that 
which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the 
God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God 
of Jacob ? God is not the God of the dead, but of the 
living." 

This answer of our Saviour's has by some been thought 
to be obscure, and not to go directly to the point of prov- 
ing a resurrection, which the Sadducees denied, and 
which their objection was meant to overthrow. In our 
Lord's reply no argument seems to be advanced, nor any- 
plain text of Scripture produced to establish the doctrine 
of a resurrection of the body, and its reanimation by the 
soul. It is only contended, that as God declares him- 
self to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the 
souls of those persons must, still be in existence in a 
separate state ; because God could not be said to be the 



^^m*M 



250 LECTURE XVIIL 

God of those who were no longer in being. This is un- 
deniable. But how (it is said) does this prove a resur- 
rection! To explain this, it must be observed, that 
Christ's answer consists of two parts : in the first, he 
solves the difficulty started by the Sadducees respecting 
a resurrection, by telling them, that it arose entirely from 
their not attending the \ ower of God, which could effect 
with the utmost ease what to them appeared impossible ; 
and from their ignorance of the state of human beings in 
heaven, which resembled that of angels, and required 
not a constant succession to be kept up by marriage. 
The case, therefore, they had stated, respecting the mar- 
riage of the seven brethren with one woman, was a very 
unfortunate one, because it happened, that in heaven 
there would be no such thing as marriage ; which de- 
stroyed at once the whole of that objection which they 
deemed so formidable. In the second part he com- 
pletely subverts the false principle on which their dis- 
belief of a resurrection and a future state was entirely 
founded. This principle was, that the soul had no sepa- 
rate existence, but fell into nothing at the dissolution of 
its union wdth the body. This we learn from the Acts 
of the apostles*, where it is said " that the Sadducees be- 
lieve neither angel nor spirit ;" and from Josephus, who 
tells us, that the Sadducees held that the soul vanishes 
(as he expresses it) with the body, and rejected the doc- 
trine of its duration after death t. It was this principle, 
therefore, which our Saviour undertook to overthrow, 
which he does effectually in the thirty-first and thirty- 
second verses, by showing it to be a clear inference from 
the words of Scripture % t that although the bodies of 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had long been in their 
graves, yet their souls had survived, and were at that 
moment in existence. Erom hence it necessarily fol- 
lowed, that the soul did not perish with the body, as the 
Sadducees believed, but that it continued in being after 
death ; and at the general resurrection would be again 
united with the body, and live for ever in a future state 
of happiness or of misery. 

But though arguments may be confuted, and absur- 
dities exposed, the thorough-paced caviller is not easily 
silenced. One should have thought, that the disgraceful 

* Chap, xxiii, 8. 

t IvvaQoLViZu roig crapac-i. Antiq. lib. xxiii, cap. ii, p. 7D3, 
ed. Huds. % Exod. iii, 6. 



MATTHEW XXII. 251 

failure of so many attempts to surprise and ensnare 
Jesus would have taught his adversaries a little modesty 
and a little prudence ; but these are qualities with which 
professed disputers and sophists do not usually much 
abound. When, therefore, the Pharisees had heard that 
Jesus had put the Sadducees to silence, instead of being 
discouraged from making any more experiments of that 
nature, " they were gathered together/' probably to 
consult how they might renew their attacks upon him 
with more success. " Then one of them, which was a 
lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 
Master, which is the great commandment in the law 1 
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all 
thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. 
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy 
neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments 
hang all the law and the prophets." 

The question here proposed to Jesus by the lawyer, 
or interpreter of the Mosaic law, took its rise probably 
from a maxim, which seems to have been received 
among the Scribes and Pharisees as a first principle, 
namely, that such a multiplicity of precepts as the law 
contained was too great for any one to observe ; and, 
therefore, all that could be required was, that each 
should select to himself one or two great and important 
duties, on account of which, if inviolably observed, his 
transgressions in other respects would be overlooked. 
But then immediately arose a question, Which were 
these great and important duties, that ought to have the 
preference to all the rest, and on which they might se- 
curely ground all their merit and all their pretences to 
the favour of God 1 And on this question a variety of 
sects were formed, under their respective leaders, who 
disputed about the chief duty much in the same manner 
as the ancient pagan philosophers did about the chief 
good ; and exactly with the same benefit to themselves 
and to the world. 

It was with a reference, therefore, to these disputes, 
which were so warmly agitated among the Pharisees, 
that the lawyer asked our Lord, " which was the great 
commandment of the law \ " Our Saviour's answer was, 
" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind : this is the 



252 LECTURE XVIII. 

first and great commandment." He decided, therefore, 
immediately in favour of the moral law, and yet with 
his usual prudence did not neglect the ceremonial, for 
this very commandment of the love of God was written 
upon their phylacteries. 

This, then, being declared by our Saviour himself to 
be the first of the commandments, must be considered 
by every Christian as standing at the head of the evan- 
gelical code of laws which he is bound to obey, and as 
entitled, therefore, to his first and highest regard. He 
is to love the Lord his God " with all his heart, with all 
his soul, and with all his mind : " and the chief test by 
which the Gospel orders us to try and measure our love 
to God is, the regard we pay to his commands. " He 
that hath my commandments, and keepeth them/' says 
our Lord, " he it is that lovethme*." St. John, in still 
stronger terms, assures us, that " whoso keepeth God's 
word, in him verily is the love of God perfected t." The 
love of our Maker, then, is neither a mere unmeaning 
animal fervour, nor a lifeless, formal worship or obedi- 
ence. It consists in devoutness of heart as well as pu- 
rity of life ; and, from comparing together the different 
passages of Scripture relating to it, we may define it to 
be, such a reverential admiration of God's perfections in 
general, and such a grateful sense of his infinite good- 
ness in particular, as render the contemplation and the 
worship of him delightful to us, and produce in us a 
constant desire and endeavour to please him, in every 
part of our moral and religious conduct. 

This is, in a few words, what the Scriptures mean by 
the love of God, and what our Lord here calls the first 

AND GREAT COMMANDMENT. It is justly SO Called for 

various reasons ; because he, who is the object of it, is 
the first and greatest of all beings, and therefore the du- 
ties owing to him must hive the precedence and pre- 
eminence over every other ; because it is the grand lead- 
ing principle of right conduct, the original source and 
fountain from which all Christian graces flow, from 
whence the living waters of religion take their rise, and 
branch out into all the various duties of human life ; 
because, in fine, it is, when fervent and sincere, the 
grand master-spring of human conduct ; the only motive 

* John xiv, 21 . t 1 John ii, 5. 



MATTHEW XXII. 253 

sufficiently powerful to subdue our strongest passions, 
to carry us triumphantly through the severest trials, and 
render us superior to the most formidable temptations. 

Next to this in order and in excellence, or, as our 
Saviour expresses it, like unto it, is that other divine 
command, " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." 

By the word neighbour is here to be understood, every 
man with whom we have any concern ; every one who 
stands in need of our kindness, and to whom we are 
able to extend it ; which includes not only our relations, 
friends, and countrymen, but even our enemies, as ap- 
pears from the parable of the Good Samaritan. The 
precept, therefore, requires us generally to love our fel- 
low-creatures as we do ourselves. 

To this it has been objected, that the precept is im- 
practicable and impossible. Self-love, it is contended, is 
a passion implanted in our breasts by the hand of God 
himself; and though social love is also another affec- 
tion which he has given us, yet there is no comparison 
between the strength of the two principles ; and no man 
can or does love all mankind as well as he does himself. 
It is perfectly true ; nor does the precept before us re- 
quire it. The words are not, thou shalt love thy neigh- 
bour as much as thyself; but thou shalt love thy neigh- 
bour as thyself; that is, thou shalt entertain for him 
an affection similar in kind, though not equal in de- 
gree, to that which thou entertainest for thyself. Our 
self-love prompts us to seek our own happiness, as far as 
is consistent with the duties we owe to God and to man. 
Our social love should in the same manner prompt us to 
seek the happiness of our neighbour, as far as is con- 
sistent with the duty we owe to God and ourselves. 
But in all equal circumstances our love for ourselves 
must have a priority in degree to the love we have for 
our neighbour. If, for instance, my neighbour is in ex- 
treme want of food, and I am in the same want, I am 
not bound to give him that food which is indispensably 
necessary for my own preservation, but that only which 
is consistent with it. The rule, in short, can never be 
mistaken by any man of common sense. Our business 
is to take care to carry it far enough : nature will take 
sufficient care that we do not carry it too far. It is in 
fact nothing more than what we are taught by another 
divine rule, very nearly allied to this, and which all 



254 LECTURE XVIIL 

men allow to be reasonable, equitable, and practicable : 
" Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do 
ye even so to them*." 

This is precisely what is meant by loving our neigh- 
bour as ourselves ; for when we treat him exactly as 
we would expect and hope to be treated by him in the 
same circumstances, we give a clear and decisive proof 
that we love him as ourselves. And in this there is evi- 
dently no impossibility, no difficulty, no obscurity. 

These, then, are the two great commandments, on 
which, we are told, hang all the law and the prophets ; that 
is, on them, as on its main foundation, rests the whole 
Mosaic dispensation, for of that, not of the Gospel, our 
Lord is here speaking. To explain, establish, and con- 
firm these two leading principles of human duty, was 
one of the chief objects of the law and the prophets. 
But it must at the same time be remembered (as 1 have 
shown at large in a former Lecture t), that, great and 
important as these two precepts confessedly are, they 
do by no means constitute the whole of the Christian 
system. In that we find many essential improvements 
of the moral law, which was carried by our Saviour to a 
much higher degree of perfection than in the Jewish dis- 
pensation, as may be seen more particularly in his ser- 
mon on the Mount. We find, also, in the New Testa- 
ment, all those important evangelical doctrines which 
distinguish the Christian revelation, more particularly 
those of a resurrection, of a future day of retribution, of 
the expiation of our sins, original and personal, by the 
sacrifice of Christ, of sanctification by the Holy Spirit, 
of justification by a true and lively faith in the merits of 
our Redeemer. If, therefore, we wish to form a just 
and correct idea of the whole Christian dispensation, 
and if we wish to be considered as genuine disciples of 
our Divine Master, we must not content ourselves with 
observing only the two leading commandments of love 
to God and love to men, but we must look to the whole 
of our religion as it lies in the Gospel ; we must endea- 
vour to stand perfect in all the will of God, and in all 
the doctrines of his Son, as declared in the Christian 
revelation ; and, after doing our utmost to fulfil all righ- 
teousness, and to attend to every branch of our duty, 

* Matt, vii, 12. f Lect. vii, pp. 93—95. 



MATTHEW XXII. 255 

both with respect to God, our neighbour, and ourselves, 
we must finally repose all our hopes of salvation on the 
merits of our Redeemer, and on our belief in him as the 
way, the truth, and the life. 

I must now put a period to these Lectures for the pre- 
sent season ; and, if it should please God to preserve 
my life for another year, I hope to finish my observa- 
tions on the Gospel of St. Matthew, beyond which I 
must not now extend my views. 

In the meanwhile, from what I have observed in the 
progress of these Lectures, I cannot help indulging an 
humble hope, that they have not been unattended with 
some salutary effects upon your minds. But when, on 
the other hand, I consider, that the time of year is now 
approaching, in which the gaieties and amusements of 
this vast metropolis are generally engaged in, with in- 
credible alacrity and ardour, and multitudes are pour- 
ing in from every part of the kingdom to take their share 
in them ; and when I recollect farther, that at this very 
period in the last year a degree of extravagance and 
wildness in pleasure took place, which gave pain to 
every serious mind, and was almost unexampled in any 
former times ; I am not, I confess, without some appre- 
hensions, that the same scene of levity and dissipation 
may again recur, and that some of those who now hear 
me (of the younger part more especially) may be drawn 
too far into this fashionable vortex ; and lose, in that 
giddy tumult of diversion, all remembrance of what has 
passed in this sacred place. I must, therefore, most 
earnestly caution them against these fascinating allure- 
ments, and recommend to them that moderation, that 
temperance, that modesty in amusement, which their 
Christian profession at all times requires, and for which 
at this moment there are reasons of peculiar weight and 
force *. 

To indulge ourselves in endless gaieties and expen- 
sive luxuries, at a time when so many of our poorer 
brethren are, from the heavy pressure of unfavourable 
circumstances, in want of the most essential necessaries 
of life, would surely manifest a very unfeeling and un- 
christian disposition in ourselves, and would be a most 
cruel and wanton aggravation of their sufferings. 

* This Lecture was given in April 1800, a time of great scarcity, 
and extreme clearness of all the necessaries of life. 



256 LECTURE XVIII. 

It is true, indeed, that their wants have hitherto been 
relieved with a liberality and kindness, which reflect the 
highest honour on those who exercised them. But the 
evil in question still subsists in its full force, and is, I 
fear, more likely to increase than to abate for months to 
come, and will of course require unceasing exertions of 
benevolence, and repeated acts of charity on our part, 
to alleviate and mitigate its baneful effects- 

Every one ought, therefore, to provide as ample a fund 
as possible for this purpose ; and how can this be better 
provided than by a retrenchment of our expensive diver- 
sions, our splendid assemblies, and luxurious entertain- 
ments ] We are not now required, as the young ruler in 
the Gospel was, to sell all we have, and give to the poor ; 
but we are required, especially in times such as these, 
to cut off all idle and needless articles of profusion, that 
we " may have to give to him that needeth." 

And when we consider that the expense of a single 
evening's amusement, or a single convivial meeting, 
would give support and comfort, perhaps, to twenty 
wretched families, pining in hunger, in sickness, and in 
sorrow, can we so far divest ourselves of all the tender 
feelings of our nature (not to mention any higher princi- 
ple), can we be so intolerably selfish, so wedded to 
pleasure, so devoted to our own gratification, as to Let 
the lowest of our brethren perish, while we are solacing 
ourselves with every earthly delight 1 No one, that 
gives himself leave to reflect for a moment, can think 
this to be right, can maintain it to be consistent with his 
duty, either to God or mam And, even in respect to 
the very object we so eagerly pursue, and are so anxious 
to obtain, in point even of pleasure, I mean, and self- 
gratification, I doubt much whether the giddiest votary 
of amusement can receive half the real satisfaction from 
the gayest scenes of dissipation he is immersed in, that 
he would experience (if he would but try) from rescu- 
ing a fellow-creature from destruction, and lighting up 
an afflicted and fallen countenance with joy. 

Let us, then, abridge ourselves of a few indulgences, 
and give the price of what they would cost us to those 
who have none. By this laudable species of economy „ 
we shall at once improve ourselves in a habit of self- 
denial and self-government ; we shall demonstrate the 
sincerity of our love to our fellow-creatures, by giving 



MATTHEW XXII. 257 

up something that is dear to us for their sake, by sacri- 
ficing our pleasures to their necessities ; and, above all, 
we shall approve ourselves as faithful servants in the 
sight of our Almighty Sovereign ; we shall give some 
proof of our gratitude to our heavenly benefactor and 
friend, who has given us richly all things to enjoy ; and 
who, in return for that bounty, expects and commands 
us to be rich in good works, to feed the hungry, to clothe 
the naked, to comfort the sick, to visit the fatherless and 
widow in their affliction, and to keep ourselves unspotted 
from the world, unpolluted by its vices, and unsubdued 
by its predominant vanities and follies. 



Z3 



LECTURE XIX. 



MATTHEW XXIV. 

This course of Lectures for the present year will begin 
with the twenty-fourth chapter of St. Matthew ; which 
contains one of the clearest and most important prophe- 
cies that is to be found in the sacred writings. 

The prophecy is that which our blessed Lord delivered 
respecting the destruction of Jerusalem, to which, I ap- 
prehend, the whole of the chapter, in its primary accep- 
tation, relates. At the same time it must be admitted, 
that the forms of expression, and the images made use 
of, are for the most part applicable also to the day of 
judgment ; and that an allusion to that great event, as a 
kind of secondary object, runs through almost every part 
of the prophecy. This is a very common practice in the 
prophetic writings, where two subjects are frequently 
carried on together, a principal and a subordinate one. 
In Isaiah there are no less than three subjects, the re- 
storation of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, the 
call of the Gentiles to the Christian covenant, and the 
redemption of mankind by the Messiah, which are fre- 
quently adumbrated under the same figures and images, 
and are so blended and interwoven together, that it is 
extremely difficult to separate them from each other *. 
In the same manner our Saviour, in the chapter before 
us, seems to hold out the destruction of Jerusalem, which 
is his principal subject, as a type of the dissolution of 
the world, which is the under-part of the representation. 
By thus judiciously mingling together these two import- 
ant catastrophes, he gives at the same time (as he does 
in many other instances) a most interesting admonition 

* Bishop Lowth, on Isaiah lii, 13. 



MATTHEW XXIV. 259 

to his immediate hearers the Jews, and a most awful 
lesson to all his future disciples ; and the benefit of his 
predictions, instead of being confined to one occasion, or 
to one people, is by this admirable management extended 
to every subsequent period of time, and to the whole 
Christian world. 

After this general remark, which is a sort of key to 
the whole prophecy, and will afford an easy solution to 
several difficulties that occur in it, I shall proceed to 
consider distinctly the most material parts of it. 

We are told, in the first verse of this chapter, that " on 
our Saviour's departing from the temple, his disciples 
came to him to show him the buildings of it ; " that is, 
to draw his attention to the magnitude, the splendour, 
the apparent solidity and stability of that magnificent 
structure. It is observable, that they advert particularly 
to the stones of which it was composed. In St. Mark 
their expression is, " See what manner of stones, and 
what buildings are here ! " and in St. Luke they 
speak of the " goodly stones and gifts," with which it 
was adorned. This seems, at the first view, a circum- 
stance of little importance ; but it shows in a very strong 
light with what perfect fidelity and minute accuracy every 
thing is described in the sacred writings. For it appears 
from the historian Josephus, that there was scarce any 
thing more remarkable in this celebrated temple than 
the stupendous size of the stones with which it was con- 
structed. Those employed in the foundations were forty 
cubits, that is, above sixty feet in length ; and the su- 
perstructure, as the same historian observes, was worthy 
of such foundations, for there were stones in it of the 
whitest marble, upwards of sixty-seven feet long, more 
than seven feet high, and nine broad*. 

It was, therefore, not without reason that the disciples 
particularly noticed the uncommon magnitude of the 
stones of this superb temple, from which, and from the 
general solidity and strength of the building, they pro- 
bably flattered themselves, and meant to insinuate to 
their Divine Master, that this unrivalled edifice was 
built for eternity, was formed to stand the shock of ages, 
and to resist the utmost efforts of human power to destroy 
it. How astonished, then, and dismayed must they have 
been at our Saviour's answer to these triumphant ob- 

* Josephus de Bcllo Jud. lib. x, cap. v. 



260 LECTURE XIX. 

servations of theirs 1 Jesus said unto them. " See ye 
not all those things ? Verily I say unto you, there shall 
not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be 
thrown down." This is a proverbial expression, used 
on other occasions to denote entire destruction; and, 
therefore, had the temple been reduced to ruins in the 
usual way, the prophecy would have been fully accom- 
plished . But it so happened, that this prediction was al- 
most literally fulfilled, and that in reality scarce one 
stone was left upon another. For when the Romans had 
taken Jerusalem, Titus ordered his soldiers to dig up the 
foundations both of the city and the temple*. The Jew- 
ish writers also themselves acknowledge, that Terentius 
Rufus, who was left to command the army, did with a 
ploughshare tear up the foundations of the temple t ; and 
thereby fulfilled that prophecy of Micah^:, "Therefore 
shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field." And, 
in confirmation of this remarkable circumstance, Euse- 
bius also assures us, that the temple was ploughed up 
by the Romans ; and that he himself saw it lying in 
ruins $. The evangelist next informs us, that as Jesus 
sat on the Mount of Olives, which was exactly opposite 
to the hill on which the temple was built, and com- 
manded a very fine view of it from the east, his disciples 
came unto him privately, saying, " Tell us when shall 
these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy com- 
ing, and of the end of the world 1 " The expressions here 
made use of, the sig7i of thy coming, and the end of the 
world, at the first view naturally lead our thoughts to 
the coming of Christ at the day of judgment, and the 
final dissolution of this earthly globe. But a due atten- 
tion to the parallel passages in St. Mark and St. Luke, 
and a critical examination into the real import of those 
two phrases in various parts of Scripture, will soon con- 
vince a careful inquirer, that by the coming of Christ is 
here meant, not his coming to judge the world at the last 
day, but his coming to execute judgment upon Jeru- 
salem || ; and that by the end of the world is to be un- 
derstood, not the final consummation of all things here 
below, but the end of that age, the end of the Jewish 

* Josephus de Bello Jud. lib. vii, cap. i, p. 170, B. 
+ See Whitby, in loc. t Chap.iii, 12. 

§ Euseb. Deni. Evang. lib. vi, 13. 

(j See Mark xiii, 4 ; Luke xxi, 7; Matt, xxiv, 4, 5; xvi, 28-; 
John xxi, 22. 



MATTHEW XXIV. 261 

state and polity, the subversion of their city, temple, 
and government*. 

The real questions, therefore, here put to our Lord by 
the disciples were these two : — 

First, At what time the destruction of Jerusalem was 
to take place ; " Tell us when shall these things be?" 

Secondly, What the signs were that were to precede 
it 3 " What shall be the sign of thy coming 1 " 

Our Lord in his answer begins first with the signs, of 
which he treats from the fourth to the thirty-first verse 
inclusive. 

The first of these signs is specified in the fifth verse, 
" Many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; 
and shall deceive many." 

This part of the prophecy began soon to be fulfilled ; 
for we learn from the ancient writers, and particularly 
from Josephus, that, not long after our Lord's ascension, 
several impostors appeared, some pretending to be the 
Messiah, and others to foretel future events. The first 
were those whom our Lord here says, should come in his 
name, and were therefore false Christs. The others are 
alluded to in the eleventh verse, under the name of false 
prophets : " Many false prophets shall arise, and shall 
deceive many." Of the first sort were, as Origen in- 
forms usf, one Dositheus, who said that he was the 
Christ foretold by Moses ; and Simon Magus, who said 
he appeared among the Jews as the Son of God ; be- 
sides several others alluded to by Josephus:}:. 

The same historian tells us, that there were many 
false prophets, particularly an Egyptian, who collected 
together above thirty thousand Jews, whom he had de- 
ceived §; and Theudas, a magician, who said he was a 
prophet, and deceived many ; and a multitude of others, 
who deluded the people, even to the last, with a promise 
of help from God. And in the reign of Nero, when Felix 
was procurator of Judaea, such a number of these im> 

* The word a<o>v (here translated the world) frequently means 
nothing more than an age, a certain definite period of time. See 
Matt, xxiv, 6 — 14; Mark xii, 7; Luke xxi, 9, eompared with 
verse 20 ; Hebrews ix, 26. 

t Origen adv. Cels. lib.i et vi. 

X De Bell. Jud. lib.i, p. 705. 

k Jos. Antiq. lib. xx, cap. vi, et cap.iv, sect.i, ed. Huds. 



262 LECTURE XIX. 

postors made their appearance, that many of them were 
seized and put to death every day*. 

The next signs pointed out by our Lord are these that 
follow : " Ye shall hear of wars, and rumours of wars : 
see that ye be not troubled : for all these things must 
come to pass, but the end is not yet : for nation shall 
rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom : and 
there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earth- 
quakes, in divers places : all these are the beginning of 
sorrows." 

That there were in reality great disturbances and com- 
motions in those times, that there were not only rumours 
of wars, but wars actually existing, and continued dis- 
sensions, insurrections, and massacres among the Jews, 
and other nations who dwelt in the same cities with 
them, is so fully attested by all the historians of that 
period, but more particularly by Josephus, that to pro- 
duce all the dreadful events of that kind, which he enu- 
merates, would be to transcribe a great part of his his- 
tory. It is equally certain, from the testimony of the 
same author, as well as from Eusebius, and several pro- 
fane historians, that there were famines, and pestilences, 
and earthquakes in divers places. It is added in the 
parallel place by St. Luke t, "that fearful sights and 
great signs shall there be from heaven." And accord- 
ingly Josephus, in the preface of his history of the Jew- 
ish war, and in the history itself, enumerates a great 
variety of astonishing signs and prodigies, which he says 
preceded the calamities that impended over the Jews, 
and which he expressly affirms, in perfect conformity to 
our Saviour's prediction, were signs manifestly intended 
to forebode their approaching destruction!. And these 
accounts are confirmed by the Roman historian Tacitus, 
who says, that many prodigies happened at that time ; 
armies appeared to be engaging in the sky, arms were 
seen glittering in the air, the temple was illuminated 
with flames issuing from the clouds, the doors of the 
temple suddenly burst open, and a voice more than hu- 
man was heard, " that the gods were departing ;" and 
soon after a great motion, as if they were departing §. 

* Jos. Antiq. lib. xx, cap. vii, sect, v, p. 892. t Luke xxi, 1 J . 
t Jos. Procem. sect, xi, p. 957 ; De Bell. Jud. lib. vi, cap. v, 6ect. 
iii, p. 1281-2; et lib. vii, cap.xxx. 
$ Tacitus, lib. v, p. 25, ed. Lips. 



MATTHEW XXIV. 263 

The sign next specified by our Saviour, in the ninth 
and the four following verses, relates to the disciples 
themselves : " Then shall they deliver you up to be af- 
flicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all 
nations for my name's sake." The parallel passages in 
St. Luke and St. Mark are still stronger, and more par- 
ticular. St. Mark says, " They shall deliver you up to 
the councils ; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten : 
and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my 
sake, for a testimony against them*." St. Luke's words 
are, " They shall lay their hands on you, and persecute 
you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into pri- 
sons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's 
saket." That every circumstance here mentioned was 
minutely and exactly verified in the sufferings of the 
apostles and disciples after our Lord's decease, must be 
perfectly well known to every one that has read the Acts 
of the Apostles. You will there see, that the lives of the 
apostles were one continued scene of persecution, afflic- 
tion, and distress of every kind : that they were impri- 
soned, were beaten, were brought before councils, and 
sanhedrims, and kings; were many of them put to death, 
and were hated of all nations, by the heathens as well 
as by the Jews, for the sake of Christ ; that is, for being 
called by his name. The very name of a Christian was 
a crime ; and it exposed them to every species of insult, 
indignity, and cruelty. 

To all these calamities was to be added another, which 
we find in the tenth verse : " Then shall many be of- 
fended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate 
one another." The meaning is, that many Christians, 
terrified with these persecutions, shall become apostates 
from their religion, and renounce their faith ; for that is 
the meaning generally of the word offend in the ?s ew Tes- 
tament. That this would sometimes happen under such 
trials and calamities as the first Christians were exposed 
to, we may easily believe : and St. Paul particularly 
mentions a few who turned away from him, and forsook 
him; namely, Phygellus, Hermogenes, and Demasj. 
The other circumstance here predicted, " that the dis- 
ciples should betray one another," is remarkably verified 
by the testimony of the Roman historian Tacitus, who, 

* Mark xiii, 9. t Luke xxi, 12. 

t 2Tim.i, 15; iv, 10. 



264 LECTURE XIX. 

in describing the persecution under Nero, tells us, " that 
several Christians were first apprehended, and then, by 
their discovery, a multitude of others were convicted, and 
cruelly put to death with derision and insult *." 

It is a natural consequence of all this, that the ardour 
of many in embracing and professing Christianity should 
be considerably abated, or, as it is expressed in the 
twelfth verse, "that the love of many should wax 
cold ; " and of this we find several instances mentioned 
by the sacred writers t. 

" But he that shall endure unto the end," adds our 
Lord in the thirteenth verse, " the same shall be saved." 
He that shall not be dismayed by these persecutions, but 
shall continue firm in his faith, and unshaken in his duty 
to the last, shall be saved, both in this world and the 
next. It is, we know, the uniform doctrine of Scrip- 
ture, that they, who persevere in the belief and the prac- 
tice of Christianity to the end of their lives, shall, through 
the merits of their Redeemer, be rewarded with everlast- 
ing life. And with respect to the present life, and the 
times to which our Saviour here alludes, it is remarkable, 
that none of his disciples were known to perish in the 
siege and destruction of Jerusalem. 

Another sign, which was to precede the demolition 
of the temple and the city of Jerusalem, was, that the 
Christian religion was first to be propagated over the 
greater part of the Roman empire, which, in the Scrip- 
ture, as well as by the Roman writers, was called the 
world. " This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached 
in all the world, for a witness unto all nations ; and then 
shall the end come." Then shall come what is called 
in the third verse the " end of the world ;" that is, the 
Jewish world, the Jewish state and government. 

And accordingly St. Paul, in his epistle to the Co- 
lossi ans, speaks of the Gospel " being come unto all the 
world, and preached to every creature under heaven $." 
And we learn from the most authentic writers, and the 
most ancient records, that the Gospel was preached, 
within thirty years after the death of Christ, in Idumaea, 
Syria, and Mesopotamia ; in Media, and Parthia, and 
many parts of Asia Minor ; in Egypt, Mauritania, Ethi- 
opia, and other regions of Africa ; in Greece and Italy ; 

* Tac. Ann. lib. xv. 1 2 Tim. iv, 16; Heb. x, 25. 
t Col.i, 6,23. 



MATTHEW XXIV. 265 

as far north as Scythia, and as far westward as Spain, 
and in this very island which we inhabit ; where there 
is great reason to believe Christianity was planted in the 
days of the apostles, and before the destruction of Jeru- 
salem. And this, it is said, was to be "for a testi- 
mony against them ; " that is, against the J ews ; for a 
testimony, that the offer of salvation was made to them 
in every part of the world where they were dispersed ; 
and that, by their obstinate rejection of it, they had 
merited the signal punishment which soon after over- 
took them. 

Our Lord then goes on to still more alarming and 
more evident indications of the near approach of danger 
to the Jewish nation. " When ye therefore shall see 
the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the 
prophet*, stand in the holy place (let him that readeth 
understand), then let them that be in Judaea flee into 
the mountain." The meaning of this passage is clearly 
and fully explained by the parallel place in St. Luke : 
" when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, 
then know that the desolation therefore is nigh." The 
abomination of desolation therefore denotes the Roman 
army which besieged Jerusalem, and which Daniel also, 
in the place alluded to, calls the " abomination which 
makes desolate." 

The Roman army is here called an abomination, be- 
cause upon their standards were depicted the images of 
their emperor and their tutelary gods, whom they wor- 
shipped : and it is well known, that idols were held by 
the Jews in the utmost abhorrence ; and the very name 
they gave them was the expression here made use of, 
an abomination. The word desolation is added for an 
obvious reason, because this mighty army brought ruin 
and desolation upon Jerusalem. 

This city, and the mountain on which it stood, and a 
circuit of several furlongs around it, were accounted 
holy ground ; and as the Roman standards were planted 
in the most conspicuous places near the fortifications of 
the city, they are here said to stand in the holy place, or, 
as St. Mark expresses it, " to stand where they ought 
not." And Josephus tells us, that after the city was 
taken, " The Romans brought their ensigns into the 
temple, and placed one of them against the eastern gate, 

* Chap, ix, 27. 

2A 



266 LECTURE XIX. 

and sacrificed to them there ; which was the greatest 
insult and outrage that could possibly be offered to that 
wretched people*." 

When therefore this desolating abomination, this 
idolatrous and destructive army, appeared before the 
holy city, " then," says our Lord, " let them which be 
in Judaea flee into the mountains ; let him which is on 
the house-top not come down to take any thing out of 
his house, neither let him that is in the fields return back 
to take his clothes." These are allusions to Jewish cus- 
toms, and are designed to impress upon the disciples the 
necessity of immediate flight, not suffering themselves 
to be delayed by turning back for any accommodations 
they might wish for. " And woe unto them that are 
with child, and to those that give suck in those days ! 
And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, nei- 
ther on the sabbath day : " that is, unfortunate will it 
be for those, who, in such a time of terror and distress, 
shall have any natural impediments to obstruct their 
flight, and who are obliged to travel in the winter sea- 
son, when the weather is severe, the roads rough, and 
the days short ; or on the sabbath day, when the Jews 
fancied it unlawful to travel more than a mile or two. 
These kind admonitions were not lost upon the disciples. 
For we learn from the best ecclesiastical historians, that 
when the Roman armies approached to Jerusalem, all 
the Christians left that devoted city, and fled to Pella, a 
mountainous country, and to other places beyond the 
river Jordan. And Josephus also informs us, that when 
Vespasian was drawing his forces towards Jerusalem, a 
great multitude fled from Jericho into the mountainous 
country for their security f. 

And happy was it for them, that they did so, for the 
miseries experienced by the Jews in that siege v/ere 
almost without a parallel in the history of the world. 
" Then," says our Saviour, " shall be great tribulation, 
such as was not from the beginning of the world to this 
time, no, nor ever shall be." This expression is a pro- 
verbial one, frequently made use of by the sacred writers 
to express some very uncommon calamity ^, and there- 
fore it is not necessary to take the words in their strict* 

* De Bell. Jud. lib. vi, cap. vi, sect, i, p. 1283. 

t De Bell. Jud. lib iv, cap. viii, sect, ii, p. 1193, ed. Huds. 

t Ex, x, 14; Joel ii, 2; Dan. xii, 1 ; Maccab. ix, 27. 



MATTHEW XXIV. 267 

est sense. But yet in fact they were in the present in- 
stance almost literally fulfilled ; and whoever will turn 
to the history of this war by Josephus, and there read 
the detail of the horrible and almost incredible calami- 
ties endured by the inhabitants of Jerusalem, during 
the siege, not only from the fire and sword of the ene- 
mies without, but from famine, and pestilence, and con- 
tinual massacres and murders from the fiend-like fury 
of the seditious zealots within, will be convinced, that 
the very strong terms made use of by our Lord, even 
when literally interpreted, do not go beyond the truth. 
Indeed Josephus himself, in his preface to his history, 
expresses himself almost in the very same words : " Our 
city/' says he, " of all those subjected to the Romans, was 
raised to the highest felicity, and was thrust down again 
to the lowest gulf of misery ; for if the misfortunes of all 
from the beginning of the world were compared with 
those of the Jews, they would appear much inferior upon 
the comparison*. 5 ' Is not this almost precisely what 
our Saviour says, " There shall be great tribulation, 
such as was not from the beginning of the world to this 
time, no, nor ever shall beV ,4 It is impossible, one 
would think, even for the most stubborn infidel, not to 
be struck with the great similarity of these two pas- 
sages ; and not to see, that the prediction of our Lord, 
and the accomplishment of it, as described by the his- 
torian, are exact counterparts of each other, and seem 
almost as if they had been written by the very same 
person. Yet Josephus was not born till after our Sa- 
viour was crucified ; and he was not a Christian, but a 
Jew ; and certainly never meant to give any testimony 
to the truth of our religion. 

The calamities above-mentioned were so severe, that 
had they been of long continuance the whole Jewish 
nation must have been destroyed ; " except those days 
should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved," 
says Christ, in the twenty-second verse ; " but," he 
adds, " for the elect's sake, those days shall be short- 
ened." They were shortened for the sake of the elect, 
that is, of those Jews, who had been converted to Chris- 
tianity ; and they were shortened by the besieged them- 
selves, by their seditions and mutual slaughters, and 
their madness in burning their own provisions. 

" Then," continues Jesus, " if any man shall say unto 

* De Bell. Jod. Proflem. p. 955, ed. Huds. 



268 LECTURE XIX. 

you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not : for 
there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and 
shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch, that (if 
it were possible) they shall deceive the very elect. Be- 
hold, I have told you before. Wherefore, if they shall 
say unto you, he is in the desert ; go not forth : behold, 
he is in the secret chambers ; believe it not. For as the 
lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto 
the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. For 
wheresoever the carcass is, there shall the eagles be 
gathered together." Our Lord had already cautioned 
his disciples against believing the false Christs and false 
prophets, who would appear before the siege, and he now 
warns them against those that would rise up during the 
siege. This, Josephus tells us, they did in great abun- 
dance ; and nattered the Jews with the hope of seeing 
their Messiah coming, with great power, to rescue them 
from the hands of the Romans*. And they also pre- 
tended to show signs and wonders ; the very words made 
use of by the same historian, as well as by our Lordf. 
And it is remarkable, that Christ here foretels, not only 
the appearance of these false prophets, but the very 
places to which they would lead their deluded followers ; 
and these were, " the desert, and the secret chamber." 
And accordingly, if you look into the history of Jose- 
phus, you will find both these places distinctly specified 
as the theatres on which these impostors exhibited their 
delusions. For the historian relates a variety of in- 
stances in which these false Christs and false prophets 
betrayed their followers into the desert, where they 
were constantly destroyed ; and he also mentions one of 
these pretenders, who declared to the inhabitants of Je- 
rusalem, that God commanded them to go up into a 
particular part of the temple (into the secret chamber, as 
our Lord expresses it), and there they should receive 
the signs of deliverance. A multitude of men, women, 
and children, went up accordingly ; but, instead of de- 
liverance, the place was set on fire by the Romans, and 
six thousand perished miserably in the flames, or by en- 
deavouring to escape them J. 

* Jos. de Bell. Jud. lib. vi, cap. v, sec. ii, p. 1281 ; et Euseb. 
Hist. Eccles. lib. iv, cap. vi. 

t Jos. Antiq. lib. xx, cap. xxvii, sec. vi, p. 983, ed. Huds. 

t Jos. Antiq. lib. xx, cap. vii, sec. vi ; et cap. vii, sec. x; De 
Bell. Jud. lib. ii, cap. xiii, sec. iv ; et lib. vii, cap. xi, sec. i, ed. 
Huds. 



MATTHEW XXIV. 269 

But the appearance of the true Christ was not to be 
in that way ; it was to be as visible and as rapid as a 
flash of lightning; " for as the lightning cometh out of 
the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also 
the coming of the Son of Man be." It shall not be in a 
remote desert or in a secret chamber of the temple, but 
shall be rendered conspicuous by the sudden and entire 
overthrow of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. 

" For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles 
be gathered together." 

By the carcass is meant the Jewish nation, which was 
morally and judicially dead ; and the instruments of 
Divine vengeance, that is, the Roman armies, whose 
standards were eagles, would be collected together 
against this wicked people, as eagles are gathered to- 
gether to devour their prey. 

In the three following verses, the language of our Di- 
vine Master becomes highly figurative and sublime. 
" Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall 
the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her 
light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the pow- 
ers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall ap- 
pear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven : and then 
shall all the tribes of the earth mourn ; and they shall 
see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with 
power and great glory. And he shall send his angels 
with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather 
together his elect from the four winds, from the one end 
of heaven to the other." 

Few people, I believe, read these verses without sup- 
posing, that they refer entirely to the day of judgment, 
many of these expressions being actually applied to that 
great event in the very next chapter, and in other parts of 
Scripture ; and indeed several eminent men and learned 
commentators are of that opinion, and imagine, that our 
Lord here makes a transition from the destruction of 
Jerusalem to the end of the world, conceiving, that such 
very bold figures of speech could not with propriety be 
applied to the subversion and extinction of any city or 
state, however great and powerful. But the fact is, that 
these very same metaphors do frequently in Scripture 
denote the destruction of nations, cities, and kingdoms. 
Thus Isaiah*, speaking of the destruction of Babylon, 
says, " Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both 

* Chap, xiii, 9. 

2A 3 



270 LECTURE XIX. 

with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate ; 
and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For 
the stars of heaven, and the constellations thereof, shall 
not give their light ; the sun shall be darkened in his 
going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to 
shine." And in almost the same terms he describes the 
punishment of the Idumaeans*, and of Sennacherib and 
his people t» Ezekiel speaks in the same manner of 
Egypt t ; and Daniel of the slaughter of the Jews§ ; 
and, what is still more to the point, the prophet Joel 
describes this very destruction of Jerusalem in terms 
very similar to those of Christ; " I will show wonders 
in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pil- 
lars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, 
and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible 
day of the Lord shall come||." 

It is evident, then, that the phrases here made use of, 
of " the sun being darkened, and the moon not giving 
her light, and the stars falling from heaven, and the 
powers of heaven being shaken," are figures, meant to 
express the fall of cities, kingdoms, and nations ; and 
the origin of this sort of language is well illustrated by 
a late very learned prelate %, who tells us, that " in an- 
cient hieroglyphic writing, the sun, moon, and stars, 
were used to represent states and empires, kings, queens, 
and nobility ; their eclipse or extinction denoted tem- 
porary disasters or entire overthrow, &c. So the pro- 
phets, in like manner, call kings and empires by the 
names of the heavenly luminaries. Stars falling from 
the firmament are employed to denote the destruction 
of the nobility and other great men; insomuch, that 
in reality the prophetic style seems to be a speaking hie- 
roglyphic**." 

In the same manner, in the next verse, those awful 
words, " then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man 
in heaven : and then shall all the tribes of the earth 
mourn ; and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the 
clouds of heaven with power and great glory," seem 
applicable solely to the last advent of Christ to judge 
the world ; and yet it is certain, that in their primary 
signification they refer to the manifestation of Christ's 
power and glory, in coming to execute judgment on the 

* Chap, xxiv, 6. f Chap, li, 6. t Chap.xxxii, 7, 8. 

§ Chap, viii, 10. [J Chap, ii, 30, 31. f Bishop Warburton. 
** Div. Leg. 8vo. edit. vol. iv, p. 175. 



MATTHEW XXIV. 271 

guilty Jews, by the total overthrow of their temple, their 
city, and their government ; for so our Lord himself ex- 
plains what is meant by the coming of the Son of Man,, in 
the twenty-seventh, twenty- eighth, and thirty-seventh 
verses of this chapter. And when the prophet Daniel 
is predicting this very appearance of Christ to punish 
the Jews, he describes him as " coming in the clouds 
of heaven ; and there was given him dominion and glory, 
and a kingdom*." 

The same remark will hold with regard to the thirty- 
first verse ; " he shall send his angels with a great sound 
of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect 
from the four winds, from one end of the earth even to 
the other." These words, also, though they seem as if 
they could belong to no other subject than the last day, 
yet most assuredly relate principally to the great object 
of this prophecy, the destruction of Jerusalem ; after 
which dreadful event we are here told, that Christ will 
send forth his angels, that is, his messengers or minis- 
ters (for so that word strictly signifies t), to preach his 
Gospel to all the world, which preaching is called by 
the prophets, " lifting up the voice like a trumpet $ ;" 
and they shall gather together his elect (that is, shall 
collect disciples and converts to the faith) from the four 
winds, from the four quarters of the earth ; or, as 
St. Luke expresses it, " from the east and from the 
west, from the north and from the south §." 

Our Lord then goes on to point out the time when all 
these things shall take place, and thus answers the 
other question put to him by the disciples, " Tell us, 
when shall these things be 1" — " Now learn," says he, 
" a parable of the fig tree : When his branch is yet 
tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer 
is nigh ; so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these 
things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I 
say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these 
things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, 
but my words shall not pass away." 

The only observation necessary to be made here is, 
that the time when all these predictions were to be ful- 
filled is here limited to a certain period. They were to 
be accomplished before the generation of men then ex- 

* Dan. vii, 14. 

t Vid. Haggai i, 13; Mal.ii, 7; iii, 1; Matt, xi, 10; Mark i, 2; 
Luke viii, 27. 
t Isaiah 1 viii, 1. § Luke xiii, 29. 



272 LECTURE XIX. 

isting should pass away. And accordingly all these 
events did actually take place within forty years after 
our Saviour delivered this prophecy ; and this, by the 
way, is an unanswerable proof, that every thing our Lord 
had been saying in the preceding part of the chapter 
related principally, not to the day of judgment, or to 
any other very remote event, but to the destruction of 
Jerusalem, which did in reality happen before that 
generation had passed away. 

" But of that day and hour knoweth no man ; no, not 
the angels of heaven, but my Father only." That is, 
although the time when Jerusalem is to be destroyed 
is, as 1 have told you, fixed generally to this generation, 
yet the precise day and hour of that event is not known 
either to men or angels, but to God only. This he 
speaks in his human nature, and in his prophetic ca- 
pacity. This point was not made known to him by the 
Spirit, nor was he commissioned to reveal it. 

It is supposed by several learned commentators, that 
the words that day and that hour refer to the day of judg- 
ment, which is immediately alluded to in the preceding 
verse, heaven and earth shall pass away. This conjecture 
is an ingenious one, and may be true ; but if it be, this 
verse should be inclosed in a parenthesis, because what 
follows most certainly relates to the destruction of Jeru- 
salem (to which St. Luke in the seventeenth chapter ex- 
pressly confines it*), and cannot, without great violence 
to the words, be applied to the final advent of Christ. 
" As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of 
the Son of Man be. For, as in the days that were be- 
fore the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying 
and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered 
into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and 
took them all away : so shall also the coming of the Son 
of Man be. Then shall two be in the field ; the one 
shall be taken and the other left : two women shall be 
grinding at the mill ; the one shall be taken, and the other 
left." That is, when the day of desolation shall come upon 
the city and temple of Jerusalem, the inhabitants will be 
as thoughtless and unconcerned, and as unprepared for it, 
as the antediluvians were for the flood in the days of 
Noah. But as some (more particularly the Christians) 
will be more watchful, and in a better state of mind than 
others, the providence of God will make a distinction 
between his faithful and his disobedient servants, and 

* Lake xvii, 26, 27, 35, 36. 



MATTHEW XXIV, 273 

will protect and preserve the former, but leave the latter 
to be taken or destroyed by their enemies: although they 
may both be in the same situation of life, may be engaged 
in the same occupations, and may appear to the world 
to be in every respect in similar circumstances. 

Here ends the prophetical pait of our Lord's discourse ; 
what follows is altogether exhortatory. It may be called 
the moral of the prophecy, and the practical application 
of it, not only to his immediate hearers, but to his dis- 
ciples in all future ages ; for this concluding admonition 
most certainly alludes no less to the final judgment than 
to the destruction of Jerusalem, and applies with at 
least equal force to both. Indeed the prophecy itself, 
although in its primary and strictest sense it relates 
throughout to the destruction of the temple, city, and 
government of Jerusalem, yet, as I have before observed, 
may be considered, and was probably intended by Jesus, 
as a type and an emblem of the dissolution of the world 
itself, to which the total subversion of a great city and a 
whole nation bears some resemblance. But, with respect 
to the conclusion, there can be no doubt of its being in- 
tended to call our attention to the last solemn day of 
account ; and, with a view of its producing this effect, I 
shall now press it upon your minds in the very words of 
our Lord, without any comment, for it is too clear to re- 
quire any explanation, and too impressive to require 
any additional enforcement. " Watch ye, therefore, 
for ye know not at what hour your Lord doth come. 
But know this, that if the good man of the house had 
known in what watch the thief would come, he would 
have watched, and would not have suffered his house to 
be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready ; for in such 
an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh. Who, 
then, is a faithful and a wise servant, whom his Lord 
hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat 
in due season } Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, 
when he cometh, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto 
you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 
But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My 
lord delayeth his coming , and shall begin to smite his 
fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken ; 
the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he 
looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware 
of, and shall cat him asunder, and appoint him his por- 
tion with the hypocrites ; there shall be weeping and 
gnashing of teeth.'' 



LECTURE XX. 



MATTHEW XXIV, XXV. 

In my last Lecture I explained to you that remarkable 
prophecy respecting the destruction of Jerusalem, which 
is contained in the twenty-fourth chapter of St. Mat- 
thew ; and by a reference to the historians, who record 
or mention that event, I proved to you the complete and 
exact accomplishment of that wonderful prediction in 
all its parts. And this, in a common case, I should 
have thought fully sufficient for your satisfaction. But 
this prophecy stands so eminently distinguished by its 
singular importance, and the great variety of matter 
which it embraces, and it affords so decisive, so irresisti- 
ble a proof of the divine authority of our religion, that 
it appears to me to be well worthy of a little more at- 
tention and consideration. I shall, therefore, before I 
proceed to the next chapter, make such farther remarks 
upon it, as may tend to throw new light upon the sub- 
ject, to show more distinctly the exact correspondence 
of the prediction with the event, and to point out the 
very interesting conclusions that may be drawn from it. 
And first I would observe, that in some instances the 
providence of God seems evidently to have interposed 
in order to bring about several of the events, which 
Jesus here alludes to or predicts. Thus, in the twelfth 
year of Nero, Cestius Gallus, the president of Syria, 
came against Jerusalem with a powerful army ; and, as 
Josephus assures us, he might, had he assaulted the city, 
easily have taken it, and thereby have put an end to 
the war*. But, without any apparent reason, and con- 
trary to all expectation, he suddenly raised the siege, 

* De Bell. Jud. lib. ii, cap. xix. 



MATTHEW XXIV, XXV. 275 

and departed. This, and some other very incidental 
delays, which took place before Vespasian besieged the 
city, and Titus surrounded it with a wall, gave the 
Christians within an opportunity of following our Lord's 
advice, and of escaping to the mountains, which 
afterwards it would have been impossible for them 
to do. 

In the same manner the besieged inhabitants them- 
selves helped to fulfil another of our Saviour's pre- 
dictions, "that those days should be shortened;" for 
they burnt their own provisions, which would have been 
sufficient for many years, and fatally deserted their 
strongest holds, where they never could have been taken 
by force, the fortifications of the city being considered as 
impregnable. Titus was so sensible of this, that he him- 
self ascribed his success to God: "We have fought," 
said he to his friends, " with God on our side ; and it is 
God who hath dragged the Jews out of their strong 
holds ; for what could the hands of men and machines 
do against such towers as these* 1" 

In the next place it is worthy of remark, that, at the 
time when our Lord delivered this prophecy, there was 
not the slightest probability of the Ilomans invading 
Judaea, much less of their besieging the city of Jerusalem, 
of their surrounding it with a wall, of their taking 
it by storm, and of their destroying the temple so en- 
tirely as not to leave one stone upon another. The 
Jews were then at perfect peace with the Ilomans. The 
latter could have no motives of interest or of policy to 
invade, destroy, and depopulate a country, which was 
already subject to them, and from which they reaped 
many advantages. The fortifications too of the city 
were (as I have before observed) so strong, that they 
were deemed invincible by any human force ; and it was 
not the custom of the Romans to demolish and raze the 
very foundations of the towns they took, and exterminate 
the inhabitants, but rather to preserve them as monu- 
ments of their victories and their triumphs . 

It could not, therefore, be from mere human sagacity 
and foresight that our Saviour foretold these events ; 
or, had he even hazarded a conjecture respecting a war 
with the Romans, and the siege of Jerusalem, yet he 
could only have done this in general terms ; he could 

* Newton's Dissert, on Prophecy, vol. ii, p. 276. 



276 LECTURE XX. 

never have imagined or invented such a variety of minute 
particulars as he predicted, and as actually came to pass. 

It is, indeed, of gieat importance to observe the sur- 
prising assemblage of striking circumstances, which 
Christ pointed out in this prophecy. They are much 
more numerous than is commonly supposed, and well 
deserve to be distinctly specified. 

They may be arranged under three general heads. 

The first consists of those signs that were to precede the 
destruction of Jerusalem. 

And these signs were, false Christs, false prophets, 
rumours of wars, actual wars, nation rising against na- 
tion, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, fearful sights, 
the persecution of the apostles, the apostacy of some 
Christians, and the treachery of others, the preservation 
of Christ's faithful disciples, and the propagation of the 
Gospel through the whole Roman world. 

The second head is the commencement of the siege. 

Under this head are specified the distinguishing stand- 
ard of the Roman army, the eagle, with the images of 
the gods and their emperor affixed to it. 

The idolatrous worship paid to this standard, called 
the abomination, for so it was to the Jews. 

The planting of this standard near the holy city, and 
afterward in the very temple. 

The desolation which the Roman armies spread around 
them. 

The escape of the Christians to the mountainous 
country around Jerusalem. 

The inconceivable and unparalled calamities of every 
kind, which the wretched inhabitants endured during the 
siege ; and the shortening of those days of vengeance on 
account of the Christians. 

The third head is the actual capture of Jerusalem by 
the besieging army. 

And here it is foretold, " that not one stone of its mag- 
nificent buildings should be left upon another;" that 
the temple, the government, the state, the polity of the 
Jews, should be utterly subverted ; and, lastly, that all 
these things should happen before the then present race 
of men should be extinguished. 

If, now, we collect together the several particulars 
here specified, they amount to no less than twenty-two 
in number. A larger detail of minute circumstances than 
is to be fonnd in any other of our Lord's prophe- 



MATTHEW XXIV, XXV. 277 

eies ; and all these we see actually fulfilled in the his- 
tory of Josephus, and other ancient writers ; and it is 
extremely remarkable, that his description of the siege 
of Jerusalem, like this prophecy, is more minutely cir- 
cumstantial, and more spread out into detail, than the 
account of any other siege that we have in ancient his- 
tory. It should seem, therefore, as if this historian was 
purposely raised up by Providence to record this memo- 
rable event, and to verify our Saviour's predictions. 
And, indeed, no one could possibly be better qualified 
for the task than he, from his situation and circum- 
stances, from his integrity and veracity, and, above all, 
from the opportunities he had of being perfectly well ac- 
quainted with every thing he relates. 

He was born at Jerusalem under the reign of the em- 
peror Caligula, and about seven years after our Lord's cru- 
cifixion. He was of a noble family ; on his father's side 
descended from the most illustrious of the high priests ; 
and on his mother's side from the blood royal. At the 
age of nineteen, after having made a trial of all the dif- 
ferent sects of the Jews, he embraced that of the Pha- 
risees ; and at the age of twenty-six he made a journey 
to Rome, to obtain from Nero the release of some 
Jewish priests, who had been thrown into bonds by Felix 
the procurator of Judaea. He succeeded in this busi- 
ness ; and on his return to Jerusalem found his country- 
men resolved on commencing hostilities against the 
Romans, from which he endeavoured to dissuade them ; 
but in vain. He was soon after appointed by the Jewish 
government to the command of an army in Galilee, 
where he signalized himself in many engagements ; but 
at the siege of Jotapata was taken prisoner by Vespasian, 
and afterwards carried by Titus to the siege of Jerusalem, 
where he was an eye-witness of every thing that passed, 
till the city was taken and destroyed by the Romans. He 
then composed his History of the Jewish War, and parti- 
cularly of the siege and capture of Jerusalem, in seven 
books ; which he first wrote in Hebrew, and afterwards 
in Greek, and presented it to Vespasian and Titus, by 
both of whom it was highly approved, and ordered to be 
made public. And it is in this history that we find the 
accomplishment of all the several facts and events re- 
lative to the siege and the destruction of Jerusalem, 
which our Saviour foretold forty years before they hap- 
pened, and which have been above recited. This his- 

2 B 



278 LECTURE XX. 

tory is spoken of in the highest terms by men of the 
greatest learning and the soundest judgment, from its 
first publication to the present time. 

The fidelity, the veracity, and probity of the writer, 
are universally allowed ; and Scaliger in particular de- 
clares, that not only in the affairs of the Jews, but even 
of foreign nations, he deserves more credit than all the 
Greek and Roman writers put together*. Certain at 
least it is, that he had that most essential qualification 
of an historian, a perfect and accurate knowledge of all 
the transactions which he relates ; that he had no pre- 
judices to mislead him in the representation of them ; 
and that, above all, he meant no favour to the Christian 
cause. For even allowing the so much controverted 
passage, in which he is supposed to bear testimony to 
Christ, to be genuine, it does not appear that he ever 
became a convert to his religion, but continued probably 
a zealous Jew to the end of his life. 

From this account it is evident, that we may most se- 
curely rely on every thing he tells us respecting the 
siege of Jerusalem ; and that nothing can more com- 
pletely demonstrate the truth of our blessed Lord's pre- 
dictions, than the uncorrupt, impartial, and undesigned 
testimony given to their completion by this justly cele- 
brated historian. 

Here then we have a proof, which it is impossible to 
controvert, of our Saviour's perfect knowledge of future 
events, which belongs solely to God, and to those in- 
spired and sent by him ; which of course establishes in 
the clearest manner the divine mission of Christ, and 
the divine origin of our religion. 

The only pretence that can possibly be set up against 
this prophecy is, that it was not delivered by our Saviour 
previous to the destruction of Jerusalem, but inserted 
afterwards by St. Matthew and the other evangelists, 
subsequent to that event. This may undoubtedly be 
said, and many things may be said by those, whose trade 
is objection and cavil : but can it be said with the smallest 
appearance of truth 1 Is there the slightest ground to 
support it 1 Most certainly not. It is a mere gratuitous 
assertion, without the least shadow of proof ; and an op- 
posite assertion is a sufficient answer to it. We deny 
the fact ; and call upon our adversaries to prove it, if 

* In Prolegom. ad opus de Emendatione Temporum. 



MATTHEW XXIV, XXV. 279 

they can : they have never so much as attempted it. 
Not even the earliest enemies of our faith, those who* 
were much nearer the primitive ages, and much more 
likely to detect a fraud in the evangelical writers (if 
there were any) than modern infidels, even these never 
intimate the slightest suspicion that this prophecy was* 
inserted after the event. 

But, besides this, there are good grounds to believe, 
not only that the three Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and 
Luke, where this prophecy is related, were written and 
published before the destruction of Jerusalem, but that 
the writers of them were all dead before that event. It 
is also well known, that both St. Peter and St. Paul, who 
allude in their Epistles to the approaching ruin of Jeru- 
salem * (which they learned from our Lord's predictions) 
and who had seen and approved the Gospels of St. 
Mark and St. Luke, were put to death under Nero, and 
Jerusalem was not taken till the succeeding reign of 
Vespasian. 

It should be observed farther, that although this pro- 
phecy is by far the fullest, and clearest, and most dis- 
tinct, that our Lord delivered respecting the destruction 
of Jerusalem, he plainly, though briefly, alludes to it in 
several other parts of the Gospel t. And these occasional 
predictions of that event are so frequent, and so perfectly 
agree with this larger prophecy ; they are introduced so 
incidentally in the way of parables, or in answer to some 
question ; they arise, in short, so naturally from the oc- 
casion, and are so inartificially interwoven into the very 
essence and substance of the narrative, that they have 
every imaginable appearance of having formed an ori- 
ginal part of it, and cannot possibly be considered by 
any good judge of composition as subsequent or fraudu- 
lent insertions. 

Indeed, such a fabrication as this would have been 
the silliest and most useless fraud that can be imagined. 
For it is very remarkable, that the sacred writers make 
no use of this prophecy as a proof of our Saviour's divine 
powers, or of the truth of his religion. They appeal fre- 
quently to the ancient prophecies concerning him, to his 
miracles, and above all to his resurrection, as evidences 

* Actsii, 19; 1 Pet. iv, 7; Phil, iv, 5; 1 Thess. ii, 16; Newton 
on Proph. vol. ii, p. 225 ; Jortin's Remarks, vol. i, p. 49. 

t Matt, xxii, 1—7; xxiii, 33 — 39; Luke xir, 41—44; xiii, 1 
—5; &c. &c. 



280 LECTURE XX. 

that he was the Messiah, and the Son of God: but the/ 
never appeal to the accomplishment of this prophecy in 
support of those great truths, though certainly a very 
natural and important proof to be adduced in favour of 
them. 

But that which ought, with every reasonable man, to 
be decisive of the question is this, that three of the evan- 
gelists out of four concur in giving us this prophecy as 
a part of their history of our Lord, and as actually de- 
livered by him, at the period assigned to it, which we 
know was nearly forty years before the destruction of 
Jerusalem. Now we have no more reason to doubt their 
veracity in this point than in any other ; and if, on the 
strength of their character, on the evident marks of in- 
tegrity, simplicity, and truth, which appear in every 
page of their writings ; and above all, if in consequence 
of their undergoing the bitterest sufferings as an evidence 
of their sincerity, we give implicit credit to what they 
tell us respecting the life, the death, the doctrines, the 
miracles, and the resurrection of Christ, there is the 
very same reason for admitting the genuineness of this 
prophecy. It stands on the same solid grounds of their 
veracity and probity as the rest of the Gospel does : and 
when men lay down their lives, as they did, in confirma- 
tion of what they assert, they have surely some right to 
be believed. 

We may then safely consider this prophecy as an un- 
questionable proof of the divine foreknowledge of our 
Lord, and the divine authority of the Gospel ; and on 
this ground only (were it necessary) we might securely 
rest the whole fabric of our religion. Indeed, this re- 
markable prediction has always been considered, by 
every impartial person, as one of the most powerful 
arguments in favour of Christianity ; and in our own 
times, more particularly, a man of distinguished talents 
and acknowledged eminence in his profession, and in the 
constant habit of weighing, sifting, and scrutinizing 
evidence with the minutest accuracy in courts of justice, 
has publicly declared, that he considered this prophecy, 
if there were nothing else to support Christanity, as ab- 
solutely irresistible*, 

* See Mr. Erskine's eloquent speech at the trial of Williams, for 
publishing Paine's Age of Reason ; to which 1 must beg leave to 
add the weighty and important testimony of that most able and up- 
right judge, Lord Kenyon, who, in his charge to the jury, on the- 



MATTHEW XXIV, XXV. 281 

But our Lord's predictions respecting this devoted 
city do not end even here. He not only foretels the en- 
tire destruction of Jerusalem, but the continuance, of its 
desolation and subjection to heathens, and the dispersion 
and captivity of the Jews for a long period of time. For 
if we turn to the parallel place in St. Luke, we shall 
find him expressing himself in these words, respecting 
the Jews and their city ; " they shall fall by the edge of 
the sword, and shall be led away captive into all na- 
tions : and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gen- 
tiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled*." That 
is, not only vast numbers of the Jews shall perish at the 
siege of Jerusalem, partly by their own seditions and 
partly by the sword of the enemy, but multitudes shall 
also be made captives, and be dispersed into all coun- 
tries ; and Jerusalem shall remain in a state of desola- 
tion and oppression, trampled upon and trodden down 
by heathen conquerors and rulers, till all the Gentiles 
shall be converted to the faith of Christ, and the Jews 
themselves shall acknowledge him to be the Messiah, 
and shall be restored to their ancient city. 

The former part of this prophecy has been already 
most exactly fulfilled, and is an earnest that all the rest 
will in due time be accomplished. The number of Jews 
slain during the siege was upwards of one million one 
hundred thousand, and near three hundred thousand 
more were destroyed in other places in the course of the 
wart. Besides these, as Josephus informs us, no less 
than ninety-seven thousand were made captives and dis- 
persed into different countries, some into Egypt, some 
to Caesarea, some carried to grace the triumph of Titus 
at Rome, and the rest distributed over the Roman pro- 
vinces % ; and the whole Jewish people continue to this 
hour scattered over all the nations of the earth. 

With respect to their city, it has remained, for the 
most part, in a state of ruin and desolation, from its de- 
same occasion, made this noble confession of faith : "lam 
fully impressed with the great truths of religion, which, thank God, 
I was taught in my early years to believe ; and which the hour of 
reflection and inquiry, instead of creating any doubt, has fully con- 
firmed me in." How vain are all the idle cavils of the whole' tribe 
of infidels put together, when contrasted with such a declaration as 
this from such a man ! 
* Luke xxi, 24. t Bell. Jud. lib. ii, iii, iv, vii, &c. 

i Josephus, Bell. Jud. lib. vi, cap. ix. 

2B 3 

* 



282 LECTURE XX. 

struction by the Romans to the present time ; and has 
never been under the government of the Jews them- 
selves, but oppressed and broken down by a succession 
of foreign masters, the Romans, the Saracens, the 
Franks, the Mamalukes, and last by the Turks,, to 
whom it is still subject. It is not, therefore, only in the 
history of Josephus, and in other ancient writers, that 
we are to look for the accomplishment of our Lord's 
predictions ; we see them verified at this moment be- 
fore our eyes, in the desolated state of the once cele- 
brated city and temple of Jerusalem, and in the present 
condition of the Jewish people, not collected together 
into any one country, into one political society, and un- 
der one form of government, but dispersed over every 
region of the globe, and everywhere treated with con- 
tumely and scorn. 

There was indeed one attempt made to rebuild their 
temple and their city, and restore them to their ancient 
prosperity and splendour. It was made, too, for the ex- 
press and avowed purpose of defeating that very pro- 
phecy we have been considering ; and the event was 
such as might be expected from the folly and presump- 
tion of the man, who dared to oppose the designs of 
Providence, and to fight against God. This man was 
the emperor Julian, who, as you all know, was first a 
Christian, then apostatized from that religion, professed 
himself a pagan, and became a bitter and avowed enemy 
to the Gospel. This prince assured the Jews, that if he 
was successful in the Persian war, he would rebuild 
their city, restore them to their habitations, re-establish 
their government and their religion, and join with them 
in worshipping the great God of the universe. He ac- 
tually began this singular enterprise, by attempting to re- 
build their temple, with the greatest magnificence. He 
assigned immense sums for the structure ; and gave it in 
charge to Alypius. of Antioch, who had formerly been 
lieutenant in Britain, to superintend the work. Alypius 
exerted himself with great vigour, and was assisted in it 
by the governor of the province. But soon after they 
had begun the work, dreadful balls of fire, bursting out 
from the foundations in several parts, rendered the 
place inaccessible to the workmen, who were frequently 
burnt with the flames ; and in this manner, the fiery 
elements obstinately repelling them, forced them at 
length to abandon the design. The account of this ex- 



MATTHEW XXIV, XXV. 283 

traordinary miracle we have not only from ancient Chris- 
tian writers of credit, who lived at the very time when 
it happened, but from an heathen author of great ve- 
racity, Ammianus Marcellinus, who wrote the history 
of Roman affairs from Nerva to the death of Valens, in 
the year 378. Though he wrote in Latin, he was a 
Greek by birth. He had several honourable military 
commands under different emperors ; was with Julian 
in his Persian expedition, in the year 363, and was a 
great admirer of that emperor, whom he makes his hero ; 
yet acknowledges, that his attempt to rebuild the tem- 
ple of Jerusalem was defeated in the manner I have 
mentioned*. The fact is frequently appealed to by the 
Christians of those days, who affirm that it was in the 
mouths of all men, and was not denied even by the 
atheists themselves ; and " if it seem yet incredible to 
any one, he may repair (say they) both to witnesses of 
it yet living, and to them who have heard it from their 
mouths 5 yea, they may view the foundations lying yet 
bare and naked t." And of this, says Chrisostom, "all 
we Christians are witnesses ; these things being done 
not long since in our own timet-" 

Such are the testimonies for this miracle, which are 
collected and stated with great force by the learned 
Bishop Warburton, in his work called Julian ; and most 
of them are also admitted by Mr. Gibbon, who, in his 
recital of this miracle, acknowledges that it is attested 
by contemporary and respectable evidence ; that Gregory Na- 
zianzen, who published his account of it before the ex- 
piration of the same year, declares it was not disputed 
by the infidels of those days, and that his testimony is 
confirmed by the unexceptionable testimony of Ammia- 
nus Marcellinus §. 

I now proceed to the explanation of the next chapter, 
the twenty-fifth of St. Matthew ; which begins with pre- 
senting to us two parables, that of the ten virgins, and 
that of the servants of a great lord entrusted with dif- 
ferent talents, of which they are called upon to render 
an account. As these parables contain nothing that re- 
quires a very particular explanation, I shall content my- 
self with observing, that they are designed to carry on 
the subject with which the preceding chapter concludes ; 

* Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. xxiii, cap. i, p. 350, ed. Valesii, 
t Sozomen. Hist. Eccles. lib. v, cap. xxii, p. 632, 633, B. 
t Chrys. adv. Juda;os, Orat. iii, p. 436. 
§ History of the Roman Empire, vol. ii, p. 388. 



284 LECTURE XX. 

namely, that of the last solemn day of retribution : and 
the object of both is to call our attention to that great 
event, and to warn us of the necessity of being always 
prepared for it. Thus, in the parable of the ten virgins, 
the five that were wise took oil in their vessels with their 
lamps, and when the bridegroom appeared they were 
ready to receive him, and went in with him to the mar- 
riage. But the five that were foolish took no oil with 
them ; and while they went to procure it, the bride- 
groom unexpectedly came, and the door was shut against 
them. The application is obvious, and is given by our 
Lord himself in these words, " watch ye, therefore, for ye 
know neither the day nor the hour when the Lord cometh/ ? 

In the same manner, in the parable of the talents, he 
that had received the five talents, and he that had re- 
ceived the two, did, during the absence of their Lord, 
so diligently cultivate and so considerably improve them, 
that when at length he came to reckon with them they 
returned him his own again with usury, and received 
both applause and reward ; while that slothful and in- 
dolent servant, who had received only one talent, and in- 
stead of improving it went and hid it in the earth, when 
his lord came and required it at his hands, was severely 
reprimanded for his want of activity and exertion, and 
was cast out as an unprofitable servant into outer dark- 
ness. 

This, like the former parable, was plainly meant to 
intimate to us, that we ought to be always prepared to 
meet our Lord, and to give him a good account of the 
use we have made of our time, and of the talents, whe- 
ther many or few, that were entrusted to our care. 

After these admonitory parables, and these earnest 
exhortations to prepare for the last great day, our blessed 
Lord is naturally led on to a description of the day it- 
self; and it is a description, which, for dignity and 
grandeur, has not its equal in any writer, sacked or pro- 
fane. It is as follows : " When the Son of Man shall 
come in his glory, and ail the holy angels with him, 
then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory : and be- 
fore him shall be gathered all nations : and he shall se- 
parate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth 
his sheep from the goats : and he shall set the sheep on 
his right hand, and the goats on the left. Then shall the 
King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed 
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you 
from the foundation of the world : for I was an hungred, 



MATTHEW XXIV, XXV. 285 

and ye gave me meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me 
drink ; I was a stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, and 
ye clothed me ; I was sick, and ye visited me ; I was in 
prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous 
answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hun- 
gred, and fed thee ; or thirsty, and gave thee drink 1 
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in ; or 
naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, 
or in prison, and came unto thee 1 And the King shall 
answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inas- 
much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these 
my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he 
also say unto those on his left hand, Depart from me, 
ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil 
and his angels : for I was an hungred, and ye gave me 
no meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink ; I was 
a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye 
clothed me not ; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me 
not. Then shall they answer him, saying, Lord, when 
saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or 
naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto 
thee 1 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say 
unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least 
of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away 
into everlasting punishment ; but the righteous into life 
eternal." 

Such is the description which our Divine Master gives 
us of the great day of account ; and so solemn, so awful, 
so sublime a scene, was never before presented to the 
mind of man. 

Our Saviour represents himself as a great and mighty 
King, as the supreme Lord of all, sitting on the throne 
of his glory, with all the nations of the earth assembled 
before him, and waiting their final doom from his lips. 
What an astonishing and stupendous spectacle is this ! 
He then at one glance, which penetrates the heart of 
every individual of that immense multitude, discerns 
the respective merits or demerits of every human being 
there present, and separates the good from the bad with 
as much ease as a shepherd divides his sheep from his 
goats. He next questions them on one most important 
branch of their duty, as a specimen of the manner in 
which the inquiry into the whole of their behaviour will 
be conducted : and then, with the authority of an al- 
mighty Judge and Sovereign, he in a few words pro- 
nounces the irreversible sentence, which consigns the 



286 LECTURE XX. 

wicked to everlasting punishment, and the righteous to 
life eternal. 

Before I press this important subject any farther on 
the hearts of those who hear me, I must make a few 
observations on the description which has been just laid 
before you. 

The first is, that all mankind, when assembled before 
the judgment-seat of Christ, are divided into two great 
classes, the wicked and the good, those who are punished 
and those who are rewarded. There is no middle, no 
intermediate station provided for those who may be 
called neutrals in religion, who are indifferent and luke- 
warm, who are " neither hot nor cold," who do not re- 
ject the Gospel, but give themselves very little concern 
about it, who, instead of working out their salvation with 
fear and trembling, leave that matter to take care of it- 
self, and are at perfect ease as to the event. These men 
cannot certainly expect to inherit everlasting life. But 
they hope, probably, to be considered as harmless, inof- 
fensive beings, and to be exempted from punishment at 
least, if not entitled to reward. But how vain this hope 
is, our Saviour's representation of the final judgment 
most clearly shows. They, who are not set on the right, 
must go to the left. They, who are not rewarded, are 
consigned to punishment. There are indeed different 
mansions, both for the righteous and the wicked : there 
are different degrees of punishment for the one, and of 
reward for the other ; yet still it does not appear, that 
there is any middle or intermediate state between pu- 
nishment and reward. 

The next remark, and which has some affinity to the 
last, is, that we are to be examined at the bar of our 
great Judge, not merely as to our exemption from crimes, 
but as to our performance of good actions ; substantial 
and genuine Christian virtues are expected at our hands. 
It will not be sufficient for us to plead, that we kept our- 
selves clear from sin ; we must show, that we have ex- 
erted ourselves in the faithful discharge of all those 
various important duties, which the Gospel requires 
from us. 

Lastly, it must be observed, and it is an observation of 
the utmost importance, and which I wish to impress 
most forcibly upon your minds, that although charity to 
our neighbour, and indeed only one branch of that com- 
prehensive duty, viz. liberality to the poor, is here speci- 
fied as the only Christian virtue, concerning which in- 



MATTHEW XXIV, XXV. 287 

quiry will be made at the day of judgment, yet we must 
not imagine, that this is the only virtue which will be 
expected from us, and that on this alone will depend 
our final salvation. Nothing can be more distant from 
truth, or more dangerous to religion, than this opinion. 
The fact is, that charity, or love to man in all its extent, 
being the most eminent of all the evangelical virtues, 
being that which Christ has made the very badge and 
discriminating mark of his religion, is here constituted 
by him the representative of all other virtues ; just as 
faith is, in various passages of Scripture, used to denote 
and represent the whole Christian religion. Nothing is 
more common than this sort of figure (called a synec- 
doche) in profane as well as sacred writers ; by which a 
part, an essential and important part, is made to stand 
for the whole. But that neither charity nor any other 
single virtue can entitle us to eternal life is clear, from 
the whole tenour of the New Testament, which every- 
where requires universal holiness of life. We are com- 
manded " to stand perfect and complete in all the will 
of God*;" to "add to our faith virtue, and to virtue 
knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to tem- 
perance patience, and to patience godliness, and to 
godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness 
charity t." Here you see, that charity makes only one 
in that large assemblage of virtues, which are required 
to constitute the Christian character. And so far is it 
from being true, that any single virtue will give us ad- 
mission into the kingdom of heaven, that St. James lays 
down a directly opposite doctrine ; namely, that if we 
do not to the best of our power cultivate every virtue 
without exception, we shall be objects of punishment 
instead of reward. " Whosoever," says he, " shall 
keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is 
guilty of all." Nay, even if we endeavour to fulfil all 
righteousness, yet it is not on that righteousness, but on 
the merits of our Redeemer, that we must rely for our 
acceptance with God. For the plain doctrine of Scrip- 
ture is, that it is " the blood of Jesus Christ that cleans- 
eth us from all sin $ ;" and that " by grace we are 
saved, through faith ; and that not of ourselves, it is the 
gift of God$." Of this, indeed, no notice is taken in 
our Saviour s description of the last judgment, and that 

* Col. iv, 12. t 2 Pet. i, 6. 

t 1 John i, 7. § Eph. ii, 8. 



288 LECTURE XX. 

for a plain reason, because he had not yet finished the 
graeious work of our redemption. He had not yet of- 
fered himself up upon the cross as a sacrifice, a propi- 
tiation for the sins of the whole world. But after that 
great act of mercy was performed, it is then the uniform 
language of the sacred writers, " that we are justified 
freely by the grace of God, through the redemption that 
is in Christ Jesus*." 

We must, therefore, collect the terms of our salvation, 
not from any one passage of Scripture, but from the 
whole tenour of the sacred writings taken together ; and 
if we judge by this rule, which is the only one that can 
be securely relied upon, we shall find, that nothing less 
than a sincere and lively faith in Christ, producing in 
us, as far as the infirmity of our nature will allow, 
universal holiness of life, can ever make our final calling 
and election sure. But thus much we may certainly 
collect from our Lord's representation of our final judg- 
ment, that charity, or love to man, in the true scriptural 
sense of that word, is one of the most essential duties of 
our religion ; and that to neglect that virtue, above all 
others, which our Redeemer and our Judge has selected 
as the peculiar object of his approbation, and as the re- 
presentative of all the other evangelical virtues, must be 
peculiarly dangerous, and render us peculiarly unfit to 
appear at the last day before the great tribunal of Christ. 

How soon we may be summoned there no one can tell. 
The final dissolution of this earthly system may be at a 
great distance ; but, what is the same thing to every 
moral and religious purpose, death may be very near. 
It is at least, even to the youngest of us, uncertain, and 
in whatever state it overtakes us, in that state will judg- 
ment find us ; for there is no repentance in the grave ; 
and as we die, so shall we stand before our Almighty 
Judge. " Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, lest at 
any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, 
and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and so that 
day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it 
come upon all them that dwell on the face of the earth. 
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be 
accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall 
come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Mant." 

* Rom. iii, 24. t Luke xxi, 34, 35, 36. 



LECTURE XXL 



MATTHEW XXVI. 

We are now approaching the last sad scene of our 
Saviour's life, which commences with the twenty-sixth 
chapter, and continues in a progressive accumulation of 
one misery upon another to the end of St. Matthew's 
Gospel. 

The twenty-sixth chapter, which will be the subject 
of the present Lecture, begins with informing us, that, two 
days before the great feast of the passover, the chief 
priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, as- 
sembled together unto the palace of the high priest, who 
was called Caiaphas, and consulted that they might take 
Jesus by subtlety and kill him. 

Whilst they were thus employed, Jesus himself was in 
Bethany (a small village near Jerusalem) at the house 
of a person called Simon, whom he had cured of a le- 
prosy ; and here an incident took place, which marks at 
once the manners of the country and the times, and 
places in a striking point of view the different characters 
of the several persons concerned in it. 

As Jesus was sitting at meat in the house above men- 
tioned, " there came unto him a woman, having an 
alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it 
on his head. But when his disciples saw it, they had 
indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste 1 for 
this ointment might have been sold for much, and given 
to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto 
them, Why trouble ye the woman ] for she hath wrought 
a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always 
with you, but me ye have not always. For in that she 
hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my 
burial. Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this Gospel 

2 C 



290 LECTURE XXI. 

shall be preached in the whole world, there also shall 
this, which this woman hath done, be told for a memo- 
rial of her." 

There are in this little story several circumstances 
that deserve our notice. 

The first is, that the act here mentioned, of pouring 
the ointment on the head of Jesus, though it may appear 
strange to us, yet was perfectly conformable to the cus- 
toms of ancient times, not only in Asia, but in the more 
polished parts of Europe. Chaplets of flowers and odo- 
riferous unguents are mentioned by several classic au- 
thors as in use at the festive entertainments both of the 
Greeks and Romans ; and particularly among the Jews, 
the custom of anointing the head seems to have been 
almost as common a practice as that of washing the face. 
Eor they are mentioned together by our Lord in his direc- 
tion to his disciples on the subject of fasting : " But thou, 
when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face, 
that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father 
which seeth in secret*." 

But there was a much higher purpose to which the 
effusion of ointment on the head was applied by the 
Jews. It was by this ceremony that kings, priests, and 
prophets, were set apart and consecrated to their re- 
spective offices. And for this reason it was that our 
blessed Lord himself, who united in his own person the 
threefold character of king, priest, and prophet, was dis- 
tinguished by the name of the Messiah, which in the 
Hebrew language means the anointed. It was there- 
fore with peculiar propriety that this discriminating 
mark of respect was shown to Jesus by the devout woman 
here mentioned, though she herself was probably alto- 
gether unconscious of that propriety. Jesus, however, 
saw at once the piety of her heart, and the purity of her 
intentions ; and with that sweetness of temper and ur- 
banity of manners, which were natural to him, not only 
accepted her humble offering with complacency, but 
generously defended her against the illiberal cavils of 
his fastidious followers. And then he added a promise 
of that distinguished honour, which should perpetuate 
this meritorious act of hers to all future ages : " Verily I 
say unto you, that wheresoever this Gospel shall be 
preached in the whole world, there shall also this that 

* Matt, vi, 17, 18. 



MATTHEW XXVI. 291 

this woman hath done be told for a memorial of her." 
This we know was no vain prediction ; it has been most 
literally and punctually fulfilled, and we ourselves are 
witnesses of its completion at this very moment. 

The next remarkable occurrence in this chapter is the 
institution of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper by our 
Saviour, when he was eating the passover with his dis- 
ciples. 

The passover was one of the most solemn and sacred 
feasts of the Jews. It was so called because it w T as es- 
tablished in commemoration of the deliverance of the 
Jews from their bondage in Egypt, at which time the 
destroying angel, when he put to death the first born of 
the Egyptians, passed over the houses of the Israelites, 
wdiich were all marked with the blood of the lamb that 
had been killed and eaten the evening before in every 
Hebrew house, and was therefore called the Paschal 
Lamb. 

This great festival our Saviour observed with his dis- 
ciples the evening before he suffered, and with them ate 
the paschal lamb, which was a prophetic type of him- 
self. For he was the real paschal lamb, that was sacri- 
ficed for the sins of men. He was the lamb slain from 
the foundation of the world* ; the lamb without blemish 
and without spott, as the paschal lamb was ordered to 
be $. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the paschal 
lamb of the Jews w r as meant to be an emblem of our 
Lord. The slaying of that lamb prefigured the slaying 
of Christ upon the cross ; and as those houses which 
were sprinkled with the blood of the lamb were passed 
oyer by the destroying angel, so they wmose souls are 
sprinkled with the blood of Christ are saved from de- 
struction, and their sins passed over and forgiven for his 
sake. And it is a very remarkable circumstance, that 
our Saviour was crucified, and our deliverance from the 
bondage of sin completed, in the same month, and on 
the same day of the month, that the Israelites were de- 
livered from the bondage of Egypt, by their departure 
from that land. For the Israelites went out of Egypt, 
and Christ was put to death, on the fifteenth day of the 
month Nisan. 

I have premised thus much respecting the passover 
and the paschal lamb, because it will throw considerable 

* Rev. xiii, 8. f 1 Pet.i, 19. * Exod. xiv5. 



292 LECTURE XXI. 

light on the true nature and meaning of the sacrament 
of the Lord's supper, which Jesus now instituted, and of 
which the evangelist gives the following account; 
" When the even was come, our Lord sat down with 
the twelve to eat the passover ; and as they were eat- 
ing, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and 
gave it to his disciples, and said, Take, eat ; this is my 
body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave 
it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it ; for this is my blood 
of the new testament, which is shed for many for the 
remission of sins." This is the whole of the institution 
of the sacred rite by our blessed Lord, as recorded in 
St. Matthew's Gospel ; and nothing can be more evident, 
than that when he brake the bread, and gave it to his 
disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body ; " he 
ment to say that the bread was to represent his body, 
and the breaking of it was to represent the breaking 
of his body upon the cross. In the same manner, when 
he took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, 
saying, " Drink ye all of it, for this is my blood of the 
new testament (or new covenant), which is shed for 
many for the remission of sins ;" his meaning was, that 
the wine in the cup was a representation of his blood, 
that was to be shed upon the cross as an expiation and 
atonement for the sins of the whole world. And his dis- 
ciples were to eat the bread and drink the wine so con- 
secrated, and so appropriated to this particular purpose, 
in grateful remembrance of what our Lord suffered for 
their salvation, and that of all mankind; for St. Luke 
adds these affecting and impressive words of our Saviour, 
u This do in remembrance of me." 

The Lord's supper, therefore, was evidently to be a 
solemn commemoration and recognition of the redemp- 
tion and deliverance of mankind by the death of Christ, 
as the feast of the passover was of the deliverance of 
the Israelites from the destroying angel. Nor is this 
all ; for as the Jews were accustomed in their peace- 
offerings to eat a part of the victim, and thus partook of 
the sacrifice ; so they would perceive, that in this new 
institution, the eating of the bread and drinking of the 
wine was a mark and symbol of their participating in 
the effects of this new peace-offering, the death of 
Christ ; whose body was broken, and whose blood was 
shed for them on the cross. 

They would also see, that this supper of our Lord was 



MATTHEW XXVI. 293 

from that time to be substituted in the room of the pas- 
sover : and that they might have no doubt on this head, 
our Lord expressly declares that this was to be the case ; 
for immediately after the institution of this sacrament 
he adds, " 1 say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of 
this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new 
with you in my Father's kingdom." The meaning is, 
this is the last time that this supper shall be a represent- 
ation of the passover. It shall hereafter take a new sig . 
nification. When my kingdom (that is, my religion) is 
fully confirmed and established by my rising from the 
dead, this supper shall be the memorial of a more noble 
sacrifice. The passover, which was a type of the re- 
demption to be wrought by me, shall be fulfilled and 
completed by my death and resurrection. The shadow 
passes away ; the substance takes place ; and when you 
eat this supper in remembrance of me, there will I be 
virtually present amongst you ; and your souls shall be 
nourished and refreshed by my grace, as your bodies are 
by the bread and wine. 

You will perceive, by what I have here said on the 
sacrament of the Lord's supper, that I have confined 
myself to that which was immediately before me, the 
original institution of it by our blessed Lord. I have not 
entered into those farther illustrations of this holy rite, 
which are presented to us in other parts of Scripture ; 
particularly in the eleventh chapter of the First Epistle to 
the Corinthians. To go at length into the consideration 
of this important subject, would lead me into a much 
longer discussion than the nature of this Discourse will 
admit. I shall, therefore, only observe farther, that 
whoever reads with attention this first institution of the 
Lord's supper, whoever reflects that it was the very last 
meal that our Lord ate with his disciples ; that the next 
day he underwent for our sakes a most excruciating and 
ignominious death ; and that he requires us to receive 
this sacrament "in remembrance of him;" whoever, I 
say, can, notwithstanding all this, disobey the last com- 
mand of his dying Redeemer, must be destitute, not only 
of all the devout sentiments of a Christian, but of all the 
honest feelings of a man. 

After having thus kept the passover for the last time, 
our Lord and his apostles sung a hymn, as was usual 
with the Jews after their repasts ; and the hymn they 
sung on this occasion was probably what they called the 

2 C 3 



294 LECTURE XXL 

Paschal Psalms, from cxiii to cxviii, in which the dis- 
ciples, accustomed to that recital, readily joined. They 
then went out unto the Mount of Olives ; and as they were 
going, Jesus saith unto them, " All ye shall be offended 
because of me this night : for it is written, I will smite 
the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scat- 
tered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go 
before you into Galilee." This was a prophetic warning 
to the disciples, that they would all be terrified by the 
dangers that awaited him, and would desert and vir- 
tually renounce him that very night. The words here 
quoted, " I w T ill smite the shepherd, and the sheep of 
the flock shall be scattered abroad," are from the thir- 
teenth chapter of Zechariah. But to console and sup- 
port them under this trial our Lord assures them, that he 
would rise again from the dead, and after his resur- 
rection would meet them at a certain place he appointed 
in Galilee. The apostles, as we may easily imagine, 
were greatly hurt at this admonitory prediction of our 
Lord, and protested that they would never forsake him. 
But St. Peter more particularly, who, from the ardour 
of his disposition, was always more forward in his pro- 
fessions, and more indignant at the slightest reflection 
on his character, than any of the rest, immediately cried 
out with warmth and eagerness, " Though all men 
should be offended because of thee, yet will I never be 
offended." But Jesus, who knew him much better than 
he did himself, said unto him, " Verily I say unto thee, 
That this night, before the cock crow (that is, before 
three in the morning), thou shalt deny me thrice." Peter, 
still confident of his own integrity and sincere attach- 
ment to his Divine Master, and ignorant of the weakness 
of human nature at the approach of danger, replied, with 
still greater vehemence, " Though I should die with 
thee, yet will I not deny thee ; " and the rest of the dis- 
ciples joined with him in these earnest protestations of 
inviolable fidelity. How far they were verified by the 
event, we shall soon see. 

We are now arrived at a very awful and somewhat 
mysterious part of our Saviour's history, his agony in the 
garden, which is next related to us by St. Matthew. 

" Then cometh Jesus," says the evangelist, " with 
them to a place called Gethsemane, a rich valley near 
the Mount of Olives, through which ran the brook 
Cedron, and on the side was a garden, into which Jesus 



MATTHEW XXVI. 295 

entered. And he said unto his disciples, Sit ye here," 
at the entrance probably of the garden, " while I go and 
pray yonder. And he took with him/' into a more re- 
tired part of the garden, " Peter, and the two sons of Ze- 
bedee, James and John," the very same disciples who 
accompanied him at his transfiguration ; that they who 
had been witnesses of his glory might be witnesses also 
of his humiliation and affliction. " Then saith he unto 
them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death : 
tarry ye here, and watch w r ith me. And he went a little 
farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my 
Father, if it be possible," that is, if it be possible for man 
to be saved, and thy glory promoted as effectually in any 
other way as by my death, " let this cup/' this bitter cup 
of affliction, " pass from me : nevertheless, not as I will, 
but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto his disciples, and 
findeth them asleep ; and saith unto Peter, What, could 
ye not watch with me one hour 1" You who so lately 
made such vehement professions of attachment to me ! 
" Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation." 
Ye have need to watch and pray for your own sakes, as 
well as mine, that you may not be overcome by the 
severe trials that await you, nor be tempted to desert 
me. Yet at the same moment, feeling for the infirmity 
of human nature, he adds, " the spirit indeed is willing, 
but the flesh is weak." That is, 1 know your hearts are 
right, and your intentions good; but the weakness of 
your frail nature overpowers your best resolutions, " and 
the thing which ye would ye do not." " He went away 
again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, 
if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink 
it, thy will be done. And he came and found them 
asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. And he left 
them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, 
saying the same words. Then cometh he to his disci- 
ples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now and take your 
rest : behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is 
betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be go- 
ing : behold, he is at hand that doth betray me." That 
is, henceforth, hereafter (for so the original strictly 
means) you may take your rest ; your watching can be 
of no farther use to me : my trial is over, my agony is 
subdued, and my destiny determined. I shall soon be 
betrayed into the hands of sinners. Arise, therefore, 



296 LECTURE XXI. 

let us go and meet this danger. Behold, he that be- 
trayeth me is at hand. 

This is the account given us of what is called our 
Saviour's agony in the garden ; in the nature and cir- 
cumstances of which there is certainly something " dif- 
ficult to be understood ; " but it is at the same time preg- 
nant with instruction and consolation to every disciple 
of Christ. 

We may observe, in the first place, that the terror and 
distress of our Lord's mind on this occasion seems to have 
been extreme, and the agony he endured in the highest 
degree poignant and acute. He is said here to be " ex- 
ceeding sorrowful, even unto death." St. Mark adds, 
that he was "sore amazed, and very heavy*;" and 
St. Luke tells us, that " being in agony he prayed more 
earnestly ; and his sweat was as it were great drops of 
blood falling down to the ground f." To what cause 
could these uncommonly painful sensations be owing? 
There is great reason to believe that they could not arise 
solely from the fear of death, or of the torments and the 
ignominy he was about to undergo ; for many great and 
good men, many of the primitive martyrs for instance, 
and of our first reformers, have met death and tortures 
without feeling, at least without expressing, such exces- 
sive terrors of mind as these. 

But it should be considered, that besides the appre- 
hensions of a death in the highest degree excruciating 
and disgraceful, to which in his human nature he would 
be as liable as any other person, there were several cir- 
cumstances peculiar to himself, which might exceedingly 
embitter his feelings, and exasperate his sufferings. 

In the first place, from the foreknowledge of every 
thing that could befal him, he would have a quicker 
sense and a keener perception of the torments he was 
to undergo than any other person could possibly have, 
from the anticipation of future sufferings. 

In the next place, the complicated miseries which he 
knew that his death would bring upon his country, for 
which he manifested the tenderest concern ; the distress 
in which it would plunge a mother and a friend that 
were infinitely dear to him ; and the cruel persecutions 
and afflictions of various kinds, to which he foresaw that 

* Chap, xiv, 33. t Chap, xxii, 44. 



MATTHEW XXVI. 297 

the first propagation of Tiis religion would expose his be- 
loved disciples ; all these considerations, operating on a 
mind of such exquisite sensibility as his, must make a 
deep and painful impression, and add many a bitter pang 
to the anguish which preyed upon his soul. Jsor is it at 
all improbable, that his great enemy and ours, the prince 
of darkness, whom he came to overthrow, and with 
whom he maintained a constant conflict through life, 
and triumphed over by his death ; it is not, I say, at 
all improbable, that this malignant being should exert 
his utmost power, by presenting real, and raising up 
imaginary terrors to shake the constancy of his soul, and 
deter him from the great work he had undertaken. 
These, and a multitude of other agonizing distresses, 
unknown and inconceivable to us, which might neces- 
sarily spring from so vast, so momentous, so stupendous 
a work as the salvation of a whole world, make a plain 
distinction between our Saviour's situation and that of 
any other martyr to the cause of truth, and most clearly 
prove that there never was " a sorrow, in every re- 
spect, like unto his sorrow*." It is evident, indeed, 
that there was some other cause of his agony beside that 
of his approaching death ; for it is said in the Epistle to 
the Hebrews, that he was " heard in that he feared t ;" 
that is, was delivered from the terrors that oppressed 
him ; and yet we know he was not delivered from the 
death of the cross. 

And it should be observed in the last place, that not- 
withstanding his temporary agonies of mind ; notwith- 
standing he was " sore amazed, and exceeding sorrow- 
ful, even unto death ;" notwithstanding he prayed most 
earnestly and fervently, " that the bitter cup of affliction 
might, if possible, pass away from him ;" yet, upon the 
final result, he manifested the utmost firmness and forti- 
tude of soul, and the constant termination of his prayer 
was, " not my will, but thine be done." He submitted 
with the most perfect resignation to those very calami- 
ties which he felt so acutely, and deprecated so ear- 
nestly ; and went out from the garden to meet the dangers 
that approached him with that noble and dignified ad- 
dress to his slumbering disciples, " Rise, let us be going: 
behold, he is at hand that doth betray me." It is evi- 
dent, then, that this remarkable incident in the history of 

* Lam. i, 12. t Heb.v, 7. 



298 LECTURE XXI. 

our Lord, which has given occasion to so much un- 
founded and idle cavil, instead of lowering his character 
in the slightest degree, adds fresh lustre to it, and in- 
creases our veneration for his exalted virtues. 

And, what is of no less importance, it presents to us 
instructions the most edifying, and reflections the most 
consolatory to the weakness of our nature. 

We see, in the first place, that our Lord did not pre- 
tend to that unfeeling heroism, that total insensibility to 
pain and affliction, which some of the ancient philoso- 
phers affected. On the contrary, in his human nature 
he felt like a man ; he felt the weight of his own sor- 
rows, and dropped the tear of sympathy for those of 
others. To those, therefore, who are oppressed and 
bowed down (as the best of men sometimes are) with a 
load of grief, who find, as the Psalmist expresses it, 
" their flesh and their heart failing," and their spirits 
sinking within them, it must be a most reviving con- 
sideration to reflect, that in this state even of extreme 
depression, there is no guilt ; that it is no mark of God's 
displeasure ; that even his beloved Son was no stranger 
to it ; " that he was a man of sorrows, and well ac- 
quainted with grief ; that therefore he is not a hard, 
unfeeling, obdurate master, who cannot be touched 
with our infirmities, but one who was in all things tried 
and afflicted as we are, yet without sin." He knows 
what sorrow is ; he knows how hard it sometimes 
presses even on the firmest minds ; and he will not fail 
to extend that relief to others, for which even he himself 
applied with so much fervency to the Father of all. 

From his example, too, on this occasion, we learn what 
conduct we ought to observe when distress and misery 
overtake us. We are not only allowed, but encouraged 
by what he did, to put up our petitions to the Throne of 
Grace for help in time of need. We are permitted to 
pray for the removal of our calamities with earnestness 
and with fervour ; we may implore the Almighty that 
the bitter cup of affliction may pass away from us ; but 
the conclusion must always be (what his was) " not my 
will, O my Father, but thine be done." And one thing 
we may be assured of, that if the evils which overwhelm 
us are not removed, yet our supplications shall not be in 
vain ; we shall at the least be enabled to bear them. 
And though we must not expect to have an angel sent 
from heaven to support us, as was done to Jesus, yet 



MATTHEW XXVI. 299 

we may expect, and expect with confidence, that a more 
than angelic comforter, even the Spirit of God, will shed 
his healing influence over our souls, and preserve us from 
sinking even under the severest trials. 

And there is still one farther lesson of no small im- 
portance, which this part of our Saviour's history may 
teach us. 

Extreme affliction, as we all but too well know, has 
a natural tendency, not only to depress our spirits, but to 
sour our tempers, and to render us fretful and irritable, 
and severe towards the the failings of others. But how 
did it operate on our blessed Lord 7. Instead of injuring, 
it seemed rather to improve the heavenly mildness of his 
disposition, and to make him more indulgent to the fail- 
ings of his followers. For when, in the very midst of all 
his anguish, they could so far forget his sorrows, and their 
own professions of attachment to him, as to sink into 
sleep, how gentle was his reproof to them for this want 
of sensibility and attention to him : " Could you not 
watch with me one hour 1 " And even this affectionate 
rebuke he immediately tempers with a kind excuse 
for them : " the spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is 
weak." 

I now proceed in the melancholy narrative. "And 
while he yet spake, lo ! Judas, one of the twelve, came, 
and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, 
from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he 
that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomso- 
ever I shall kiss, that same is he : hold him fast. And 
forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, Master! 
and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him, Friend, 
wherefore art thou come? Then came they and laid 
hands on Jesus, and took him." 

" And behold one of them which were with Jesus," 
St. Peter, u stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, 
and struck a servant of the high priest, whose name was 
Malchus, and smote off his ear." Here again we see 
the warmth and vehemence of Peter's temper, which 
prompted him to a well-meant, though injudicious dis- 
play of his zeal in his Master's cause. " Then said 
Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into its place, 
for all they that take the sword shall perish with the 
sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my 
Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve 



300 LECTURE XXI. 

legions of angels 1 But how then shall the Scriptures be 
fulfilled, that thus it must be V 

From this reproof to Peter, we are not to infer that the 
use of the sword in self-defence is unlawful; but that 
the use of it against the magistrate and the ministers of 
justice (which was the case in the present instance) is 
unlawful. It was meant also to check that propensity, 
which is but too strong and too apparent in a large part 
of mankind, to have recourse to the sword on all occa- 
sions ; and more particularly to restrain private persons 
from avenging private injuries, which they should rather 
leave to the magistrate or to God ; for " Vengeance is 
mine ; I will repay, saith the Lord *." In all such cases, 
they who take the sword unjustly and rashly will pro- 
bably, as our Saviour here forewarns them, perish with 
the sword ; with the sword of their adversary, or of the 
magistrate. That denunciation might also allude to the 
Jews, who now seized on Jesus ; and might be meant to 
intimate to his disciples, that it was perfectly needless 
for them to draw their swords on these miscreants, since 
they would all perish at the siege or capture of Jerusalem 
by the sword of the Romans. 

If it had been the intention of Providence to protect 
Jesus and his religion by force, there is no doubt but a 
host of angels would have been sent to defend him, as 
one was actually sent to comfort him. But this would 
have defeated the very purpose for which he came into 
the world, which was, that he should " make his soul 
an offering for sint." The prophets foretold (more par- 
ticularly Isaiah and Daniel) that he should do so. And 
beside this, nothing could be more abhorrent from the 
spirit of his religion than force, violence, and bloodshed. 
These instruments of destruction he left to fanatics and 
impostors. The only weapons he made use of were of a 
different 'nature ; the sword of the Spirit, the shield of 
faith, and the armour of righteousness. 

" In that same hour said Jesus to the multitude, Are 
ye come out as against a thief, with swords and staves, 
for to take me 1 I sat daily with you teaching in the 
temple, and ye laid no hold on me. But all this was 
done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be ful- 
filled ; " which, as I have already observed, predicted 

* Rom.xii, 19. t Isaiah liii, 10. 



MATTHEW XXVI. 301 

his sufferings and his death. " Then all his disciples 
forsook him and fled." Here we have the exact com- 
pletion of that prophecy which he had just before de- 
livered, that all his disciples should be offended be- 
cause of him ; that is, should desert him that very night. 
And that this prediction was so accomplished is clear 
beyond all controversy ; because it was an event which 
the disciples would for their own credit gladly have sup- 
pressed, if they durst. By recording this event, they 
recorded their own weakness, their own pusillanimity. 
And we may be perfectly sure that they would not in- 
vent a falsehood on purpose to perpetuate their own dis- 
grace. "We have therefore, in this incident, a demon- 
strative proof, both that our Lord's prophecy was ac- 
tually fulfilled, and that the evangelists were men of the 
strictest veracity and integrity, who were determined to 
sacrifice every thing, even their own reputation, to the 
sacred cause of truth. 

Jesus being now in the possession of his enemies, they 
that had laid hold on him led him away to Caiaphas the 
high priest, where the scribes and the elders were as- 
sembled. But Peter, though he had fled with the rest, 
yet ashamed of his cowardice, and still really attached 
to his master, summoned up for the moment resolution 
enough to turn back and follow the crowd (but with 
cautious and trembling steps) to the palace of the high 
priest, " and went in, and sat withthe servants in the 
hall of the palace, to see the end. Now the chief priests 
and elders, and all the council, sought false witness 
against Jesus to put him to death, but found none. Yea, 
though many false witnesses came, yet found they none." 
Their object was to put Jesus to death ; and for this 
purpose they sought out for false witnesses, to charge 
him with a capital crime. To condemn anyone to death, 
their own law required two witnesses ; and it was also 
necessary for them to produce evidence sufficient to in- 
duce the Roman governor to ratify their sentence, with- 
out which it was of no avail. There was no difficulty in 
finding out and suborning false witnesses in abundance, 
who were perfectly well disposed to conform to their 
wishes ; but for a long time they found none whose evi- 
dence came up to the point they aimed at ; none who 
could prove against Jesus a capital offence. But at 
length, " came two false witnesses, and said, This fel- 
low said, I am able to destrov the temple of God, and 

2 D 



302 LECTURE XXI. 

to build it in three days." Now to speak disrespectfully, 
or to prophesy against the temple, was considered by 
the Jews as blasphemy, and of course a capital offence. 
But the truth was, that Jesus said no such thing. The 
expressions alluded to by the witnesses were those he 
spoke, when, after casting the buyers and sellers out of 
the temple, the Jews asked him what sign he could give 
them of his authority to do those things 1 His answer 
was, not as the witnesses stated it, "I am able to de- 
stroy this temple ; " but it was, "Destroy this temple, 
and in three days I will raise it up." So St. John ex- 
pressly tells us* ; and also, that by this temple he meant, 
his own body, to which he probably pointed at the time. 
The high priest, sensisible, perhaps, that even this evi- 
dence would not completely answer his purpose, pro- 
ceeds to interrogate our Saviour, hoping that he might 
be drawn by artful questions to condemn himself. He 
arose, therefore, and said unto Jesus, " Answerest thou 
nothing? What is it that these witness against thee?" 
Is it true, or is it false 1 and what have you to say in 
your own defence 1 But Jesus held his peace. He dis- 
dained to make any answer to such unfounded and con- 
temptible accusations. He saw that his judges were 
predetermined ; that every thing he could say would be 
of no avail; and that the only proper part for him to 
take was to observe a dignified silence. The high priest, 
perceiving this, had recourse to a measure which he 
knew must compel our Lord to speak : "I adjure thee," 
says he, " by the living God, that thou tell us whether 
thou be the Christ the Son of God." This calling upon 
a man to swear by the living God was called the oath of 
adjuration, and was the Jewish mode of administering 
an oath, either to a witness or a criminal ; and when so 
adjured, they were obliged to answer. Jesus now 
therefore conceived himself bound in conscience to 
break his silence, and said to the high priest, " Thou 
hast said ; " that is, thou hast said what is true, I am the 
Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God ; for all these were 
synonimous terms among the Jews. But as our Lord's 
actual appearance and situation did but ill accord with 
a character of such high dignity, he proceeds to assure 
his judges, that what he affirmed was nevertheless un- 
questionably true ; and that they themselves should in 

* Chap, ii, 19. 



MATTHEW XXVI. 303 

due time have the fullest proof of it. a For," says he, 
*' hereafter ye shall see the Son of .Man sitting on the 
right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of hea- 
ven." Sitting at the right hand of power, means sitting 
at the right hand of God, to whom the Jews sometimes 
gave the appellation of power ; and coming in the clouds 
of heaven was, with the Jews, a characteristic mark of 
the Messiah. And the whole passage, relates, not to the 
final judgment, but to the coming of Christ to execute 
vengeance on the Jews in the destruction of Jerusalem 
by the Romans. " Then the high priest rent his clothes 
(a mark of extreme horror and indignation), saying, He 
hath spoken blasphemy/'' by declaring himself the Christ 
the Son of God, and assuming all the marks of Divine 
power. " What farther need have we of witnesses? Be- 
hold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think 
ye .1 They answered and said, He is guilty of death : " 
guilty of a crime that deserves death. (i Then did they 
spit in his face and buffeted him ; and others smote him 
with the palms of their hands, saying, Prophesy unto 
us : who is he that smote thee"]" 

Such were the indignities offered to the Lord of all, 
by his own infatuated creatures ; and although he could 
with one word have laid them prostrate at his feet, yet 
he bore all these insults without a single muimur or 
complaint, and never once spake unadvisedly with his 
lips. " Though he was reviled, he reviled not again : 
though he suffered, he threatened not, but committed 
himself to him that judgeth righteously *." 

The evangelist now resumes the history of St. Peter, 
who, while these things were transacting in the council- 
room, sat without in the palace ; and a damsel came 
unto him, saying, " Thou also wast with Jesus of Gali- 
lee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not 
what thou say est. And when he was come out into the 
porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that 
were there, This fellow also was with Jesus of X azareth. 
And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the 
man. And after a while came unto him they that stood 
by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them, 
for thy speech betrayeth thee. Then began he to curse 
and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And im- 
mediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the 

* 1 Pet. ii, 23. 



304 LECTURE XXI. 

words of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock 
crow thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and 
wept bitterly ." 

This most interesting story is related by all the evan- 
gelists, with a few immaterial variations in each ; but 
the substance is the same in all. There is, however, 
one circumstance added by St. Luke, so exquisitely beau- 
tiful and touching, that it well deserves to be noticed here. 
He tells us, that after Peter had denied Jesus thrice, 
" immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew : and 
the Lord turned and looked upon Peter** 3 What effect 
that look must have had on the heart and countenance 
of Peter, every one may, perhaps, in some degree con- 
ceive ; but it is utterly impossible for any words to de- 
scribe, or, I believe, even for the pencil of a Guido to 
express f. The sacred historian therefore most judi- 
ciously makes no attempt to work upon our passions or 
our feelings by any display of eloquence on the occa- 
sion. He simply relates the fact, without any embellish- 
ment or amplification ; and only adds, " and Peter re- 
membered the words of the Lord, how he had said unto 
him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice : 
and he went out, and wept bitterly." 

The reflections that crowd upon the mind from this 
most affecting incident of Peter's denial of his master 
are many and important j but I can only touch, and that 
slightly, on a few. 

The first is, that this event in the history of St. Peter 
is a clear and striking accomplishment of our Saviour's 
prediction, that before the cock crew he should deny 
him thrice. And it is very remarkable, that there are 
in this same chapter no less than four other prophecies 
of our Lord, which were all punctually fulfilled, some 
of them, like this, within a few hours after they were de- 
livered. 

The next observation resulting from the fall of Peter 
is the melancholy proof it affords us of the infirmity of 
human nature, the weakness of our best resolutions, 
when left to ourselves, and the extreme danger of con- 
fiding too much in our own strength. 

That St. Peter was most warmly attached to Jesus^ 

/ * Chap, xxii, 61. 

t In fact, I cannot learn that any great master has ever yet se- 
lected this incident as the subject of a picture. 



MATTHEW XXVI. 305 

that his intentions were upright, and his professions at 
the moment sincere, there can be no doubt. But his 
temper was too hot, and his confidence in himself too 
great. When our Lord told him, and all the other 
apostles, that they would desert him that night, Peter 
was the first to say to him, " though all men should be 
offended because of thee, yet will 1 never be offended.' 7 
And when Jesus again assured him, that before the 
cock crew he should deny him thrice, Peter insisted 
with still greater vehemence on his unshaken fidelity, 
and declared, " that though he should die with him. 
he should never deny him/' Yet deny him he did, with 
execrations and oaths ; and left a memorable lesson, 
even to the best of men, not to entertain too high an 
opinion of their own constancy and firmness in the 
hour of temptation. " Let him that thinketh he stand- 
eth, take heed lest he fall." 

And hence, in the last place, we see the wisdom and 
the necessity of looking beyond ourselves, of looking up 
to Heaven for support and assistance in the discharge of 
our duty. If, when Peter was first forewarned by 
our Lord of his approaching denial of him, instead of 
repeating his professions of inviolable fidelity to him, 
he had with all humility confessed his weakness, and 
implored his Divine Master to strengthen and fortify 
him for the trial that awaited him, the event probably 
would have been very different. And it is surprising, 
that he had not learned this lesson from his former ex- 
perience. Tor when, confiding as he did now in his own 
courage, he entreated Jesus to let him walk to him upon 
the sea, and was permitted to do so ; no sooner did he 
find the wind boisterous than he was afraid, and begin- 
ning to sink he cried out, " Lord save me ! and imme- 
diately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him." 
This was a plain intimation to him (as I remarked in a 
former Lecture), that it was not his own arm that could 
help him, but that almighty hand, and that outstretched 
arm, which then preserved him : and to which, when 
in danger, we must all have recourse to preserve us 
from sinking. " Trust then in the Lord" (as the wise 
king advises ) " with all thine heart, and lean not to thine 
own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, 
and he shall direct thy paths*." 

* Prov, iii, 5, 6. 

2D 3 



LECTURE XXII. 



MATTHEW XXVII. 

In the preceding chapter we saw, that the chief priests 
and elders had, in their summary way, without the 
shadow of justice, without any consistent evidence, de- 
cided the fate of Jesus, and pronounced him guilty of 
death. Their next care was how to get this sentence 
confirmed and carried into execution; for under the 
Roman government they had not at this time the power 
of the sword, the power of life and death ; they could 
not execute a criminal, though they might try and con- 
demn him, without a warrant from the Roman gover- 
nor ; they determined therefore to carry him before Pi- 
late, the Roman procurator of Judsea at that time. But 
then, to ensure success in that quarter, it was necessary 
to give their accusations against Jesus such a colour and 
shape as should prevail upon the governor to put him to 
death. For this purpose they found it expedient to 
change their ground ; for the} had condemned him for 
blasphemy ; but this they knew would have little weight 
with a pagan governor, who, like Gallio, would " care 
for none of those things," which related solely to re- 
ligion. They therefore resolved to bring him before 
Pilate as a state prisoner, and to charge him with trea- 
sonable and seditious practices ; with setting himself up 
as a king in opposition to Cassar, and persuading the 
people not to pay tribute to that prince. Accordingly 
we are told, in the beginning of this chapter, that 
" when morning was come, all the chief priests and 
elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put 
him to death ; " that is, to obtain permission to put him 
to death ; " and when they had bound him they led 
him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the go- 
vernor." 
The evangelist, having brought the history of this dia- 



MATTHEW XXVII. 307 

bolical transaction thus far, makes a short digression, to 
inform us of the fate of that wretched traitor Judas, 
who had by his perfidy brought his Master into this si- 
tuation. 

" Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw 
that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought 
again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and 
elders, saying, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed 
the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us 1 
See thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver 
in the temple, and went and hanged himself." 

From the expression made use of in the third verse, 
" when Judas saw that Jesus was condemned, he re- 
pented himself," some commentators have thought, that he 
did not imagine or expect that Jesus would be con- 
demned to death ; but supposed, either that he would con- 
vey himself away from his persecutors ; or that he would 
prove his innocence to the satisfaction of his judges ; or 
that at the most some slight punishment would be in- 
flicted upon him. One would not wish to load even the 
worst of men with more guilt than really belongs to 
them ; but from considering the character of Judas, and 
comparing together all the circumstances of the case, it 
appears to me more probable, that the acquittal or con- 
demnation of Jesus never entered into his contemplation. 
All he thought of was gain. He had kept the common 
purse, and had robbed it ; and his only object was, how 
to obtain a sum of money, which he determined to have 
at all events, and left consequences to take care of them- 
selves. But when he saw that his Divine Master, whom 
he knew to be perfectly innocent, was actually con- 
demned to death, his conscience then flew in his face ; 
his guilt rose up before him in all its horrors. The in- 
nocence, the virtues, the gentleness, the kindness of his 
Lord, with a thousand other circumstances, rushed at 
once upon his mind, and painted to him the enormity of 
his crime in such dreadful colours, that he could no 
longer bear the agonizing tortures that racked his soul, 
but went immediately and destroyed himself. 

The answer of the chief priests to Judas, when he 
brought back to them the thirty pieces of silver, and 
declared, that he had betrayed the innocent blood, was 
a perfectly natural one for men of their character": 
"What is that to us? See thou to that." Men who 
had any feeling, any sentiments of common humanity* 



306 LECTURE XXII. 

or even of common justice, when so convincing a proof 
of the accused person's innocence had been given them, 
would naturally have relented, would have put an im- 
mediate stop to the proceedings, and released the pri- 
soner. But this was very far from entering into their 
plan. With the guilt or innocence of Jesus they did not 
concern themselves. This was not their affair. All they 
wanted was the destruction of a man whom they hated 
and feared, and whose life and doctrine was a standing 
reproach to them. This was their object : and as to the 
mercy or the justice of the case, on this head they were 
at perfect ease : " What is that to usl See thou to that." 
And yet to see the astonishing inconsistence of human 
nature, and the strange contrivances by which even the 
most abandoned of men endeavour to satisfy their minds 
and quiet their apprehensions ; these very men, who 
had no scruple at all in murdering an innocent person, 
yet had wonderful qualms of conscience about putting 
into the treasury the money which they themselves had 
given as the " price of blood!" " The chief priests took 
the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for us to put 
them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. 
And they took counsel, and bought with them the pot- 
ter's field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field 
was called The Field of Blood unto this day. Then was 
fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet,, 
saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the 
price of him that was valued, whom they of the children 
of Israel did value, and gave them for the potter's field,, 
as the Lord appointed me *." 

I cannot pass on from this part of the chapter without 
observing, that the short account here given us of Judas 
Iscariot affords us a very striking proof of the perfect 
innocence and integrity of our Lord's character, and of 
the truth of his pretensions. 

Had there been any thing reprehensible in the former, 
or any deceit in the latter, it must have been known to 

* It happens, that this passage is found, not in Jeremiah, to 
which the evangelist refers, but in the eleventh chapter of Zecha- 
riah. But there are various very satisfactory ways in which learned 
men have accounted for this difficulty ; which, after all, as the 
prophecy actually exists, is a matter of no moment; and, in writ- 
ings two or three thousand years old, it is no great wonder if, by 
the carelessness of transctibers, one name should sometimes (espe- 
cially where abbreviations are used) be put for another. 



MATTHEW XXVII. 309 

Judas Iscariot. He was one of the twelve, who were 
the constant companions of our Saviour's ministry, and 
witnesses to every thing he said or did. If, therefore, 
his conduct had been in any respect irregular or immo- 
ral ; if his miracles had been the effect of collusion or 
fraud; if there had been any plan concerted between 
him and his disciples to impose a false religion upon the 
world, and under the guise of piety to gratify their love 
of fame, honour, wealth, or power ; if, in short, Jesus 
had been either an enthusiast or an impostor, Judas 
must have been in the secret ; and, when he betrayed 
his Master, would immediately have divulged it to the 
world. By such a discovery he would not only have 
justified his own treachery, but might probably have gra- 
tified also his ruling passion, his love of money. For 
there can be doubt, that when the chief priests and 
rulers were industriously seeking out for evidence against 
Jesus, they would most gladly have purchased that of 
Judas at any price, however extravagant, that he chose 
to demand. But instead of producing any evidence 
against Jesus, he gives a voluntary and most decisive 
evidence in his favour. " I have sinned," says he, " in 
an agony of grief, " I have sinned, and have betrayed 
the innocent blood." This testimony of Judas is inva- 
luable, because it is the testimony of an unwilling wit • 
ness ; the testimony, not of a friend, but of an enemy ; 
the testimony, not of one desirous to favour and to be- 
friend the accused, but of one who had actually betrayed 
him. After such an evidence as this, it seems impossible 
for any ingenuous mind, either to question the reality of 
our Saviour's miracles, or the divinity to which he laid 
claim ; because, as Judas declared him innocent (which 
he could not be, had he in any respect deceived his disci- 
ples), he must have been what he assumed to be, the 
Son of God, and his religion the word of God. 

After this account of Judas Iscariot, the evangelist 
proceeds in the history. 

" And Jesus stood before the governor." Little did that 
governor imagine who it was that then stood before him. 
Little did he suspect, that he must himself one day stand 
before the tribunal of that very person whom he was 
then going to judge as a criminal ! 

It appears from the parallel place in St. Luke (and 
from what was stated in the preceding Lecture), that 
the charge brought against Jesus before Pilate was not 



310 LECTURE XXII, 

what it had been before the chief priests,, blasphemy ,. 
but sedition and treason. " They began to accuse him, 
saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and 
forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he him- 
self is Christ, a king*." These were great crimes 
against the state, as affecting both the revenue and the 
sovereignty of the Roman emperor, both of which it was 
the duty of the governor to support and maintain. " Pi- 
late therefore asked him, Art thou the king of the Jews 1 
And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest." That is, I am 
what thou sayest. '■' And when he was accused of the 
chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then 
said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things- 
they witness against thee. And he answered him never 
a word ; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly." 
Our Lord's conduct on this occasion was truly dignified. 
When he was called upon to acknowledge what was 
really true, he gave a direct answer both to the chief 
priests and to Pilate. He acknowledged that he was the 
Christ, the Son of God, the King of the Jews ; but false* 
and frivolous, and unjust accusations, he treated as they 
deserved, with profound and contemptuous silence. 

It appears, however, from St. John, that although Jesus 
declared that he was the king of the Jews, yet he ex- 
plained to Pilate the nature of his kingdom, which he 
assured him was not of this world. And Pilate, satis- 
fied with this explanation, and seeing clearly that the 
whole accusation was malicious and groundless, made 
several efforts to save Jesus. He repeatedly declared to 
his accusers, that, having examined him, he could find 
no fault in him. This, however, instead of disarming 
their fury, only inflamed and increased it. They were 
the more fierce, as St. Luke tells us, saying, " He stir- 
reth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, be- 
ginning from Galilee to this place t." The mention of 
Galilee suggested an idea to Pilate, which he flattered 
himself might save him the pain of condemning an in- 
nocent man. " When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked 
whether the man were a Galilean ; and as soon as he 
knew that he belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction, he sent 
him to Herod t." That tyrant, who was delighted to see 
Jesus, and was probably very well disposed to treat him 
as he did his precursor, John the Baptist, yet could 

f Luke xxiii, 2. f Luke xxiii, 5. J Id. 6, 7. 



MATTHEW XXVII. 311 

bring no guilt home to him. He therefore sent him back 
to Pilate, insulted and derided, but uncondemned. Pi- 
late, not yet discouraged, had recourse to another expe- 
dient, which he hoped might still preserve a plainly 
guiltless man. It was the custom, at the great feast of 
the passover, for the Roman governor to gratify the 
Jewish people, by pardoning and releasing to them any 
prisoner whom they chose to select out of those that 
w r ere condemned to death. Now there happened to be 
at that time a notorious criminal in prison, named Bar- 
abbas, who had been guilty of exciting an insurrection, 
and committing murder in it. Pilate, thinking it impos- 
sible that the people could carry their malignant rage 
against Jesus so far as to desire the pardon of a murderer 
rather than of him, said unto them, " Whom will ye that 
I release unto you, Barabbas, or Jesus which is called 
Christ?" Had the people been left to their own un- 
biassed feeling, one would think that they could not have 
hesitated one moment in their choice. But they were 
under the influence of leaders (as they generally are) 
more wicked than themselves. For we are told, that 
*' the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude, 
that they should ask Barabbas and destroy Jesus*." 

While this was passing, an extraordinary incident 
took place, which must needs have made a deep impres- 
sion on the mind of Pilate. " When he was sat down 
upon the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, 
Have thou nothing to do with that just man, for I have 
suffered many things this day in a dream because of 
him." Anxious as Pilate already was to save Jesus, this 
singular circumstance coming upon him at the moment 
must have greatly quickened his zeal in such a cause. 
He therefore redoubled his efforts to carry his point, 
and again said to the Jews, " Whether of the twain 
will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas." 
Pilate still persisted, " What shall I do then with Jesus, 
which is called Christ V that is, the Messiah, the great 
deliverer whom they expected ; thinking this considera- 
tion might soften them. But he was mistaken : they all 
say unto him, " Let him be crucified." Once more he 
endeavoured to move their compassion, by reminding 
them of the perfect innocence of Jesus. The governor 
said unto them, " Why, what evil hath he done V But 

* Matt, xxvii, 20, 



312 LECTURE XXII. 

even this last affecting remonstrance was all in vain ; 
" they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. 
When therefore Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, 
but rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed 
his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of 
the blood of this just person : see ye to it." This was a 
custom both among the Jews and the Romans, when 
they wished to exculpate themselves from the guilt of 
having put to death an innocent man. We meet with 
instances of this significant ablution in several classic 
writers*. The Mosaic law itself enjoined it in certain 
cases t ; and it is in allusion to this ceremony that David 
says in the Psalms, " I will wash my hands in inno- 
cency, O Lord," that is, in testimony of my innocence, 
" and so will I go to thine altar $." 

This, therefore, was at once a visible declaration of 
the innocence of Jesus, and of Pilate's reluctance in 
condemning him. To this the Jews made that answer* 
which must petrify every heart with horror. M Then 
answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and 
on our children ! Then released he Barabbas unto them ; 
and when he had scourged Jesus he delivered him to be 
crucified." 

Here let us pause a moment, and look back to the 
scene we have been contemplating, and the reflections 
that arise from it. 

It affords, in the first place, a most awful warning to 
the lower orders of the people, to beware of giving 
themselves up, as they too frequently do, to the direction 
of artful and profligate leaders, who abuse their simpli- 
city and credulity to the very worst purposes, and make 
use of them only as tools, to accomplish their own pri- 
vate views of ambition, of avarice, of resentment, or 
revenge. We have just seen a most striking instance of 
this strange propensity of the multitude to be misled, 
and of the ease with which their passions are worked up 
to the commission of the most atrocious crimes. The 

* Sophocles, Ajax iii, i, v. 664 ; et Scholias in loco. So iEneas, 
after having recently slaughtered so many of his enemies at the 
sacking of Troy by the Greeks, durst not touch his household gods 
till he had washed himself in the running stream. 

" Me, bello e tanto digressum et ceede recenti, 
Attractare nefas ; donee me fiumine vivo 
Abluero." JEn. lib. ii, ver. 718. 

t Deut. xxi, 6, 7. X Psalm xxvi, 6. 



MATTHEW XXVII. 313 

Jewish people were naturally attached to Jesus. They 
were astonished at his miracles, they were charmed 
with his discourses, and their diseases and infirmities 
were relieved by his omnipotent benevolence. But not- 
withstanding all this, by the dexterous management of 
their chief priests and elders, their admiration of Jesus 
was converted in a moment into the most rancorous 
hatred ; they were persuaded to ask the life of a mur- 
derer in preference to his ; and to demand the destruc- 
tion of a man who had never offended them, whose in- 
nocence was as clear as the day, and was repeatedly 
acknowledged and strongly urged upon them by the very 
judge who had tried him. 

Yet even that judge himself, who was so thoroughly 
convinced of the innocence of his prisoner, and actually 
used every means in his power to preserve him, even he 
had not the honesty and the courage to protect him ef- 
fectually ; and his conduct affords a most dreadful proof 
what kind of a thing public justice was among the most 
enlightened, and (if we may believe their own poets and 
historians) the most virtuous people in the ancient hea- 
then world. We see a Roman governor, sent to dis- 
pense justice in a Roman province, and invested with 
full powers to save or to destroy ; we see him with a 
prisoner before him, in whom he repeatedly declared he 
could find no fault ; and yet, after a few ineffectual 
struggles with his own conscience, he delivers up that 
prisoner, not merely to death, but to the most horrible 
and excruciating torments that human malignity could 
devise. The fact is, he was afraid of the people, he 
was afraid of Caesar ; and when the clamorous multitude 
cried out to him, " If thou let this man go thou art not 
Caesar's friend," all his firmness, all his resolution at 
once forsook him. He shrunk from the dangers that 
threatened him, and sacrificed his conscience and his 
duty to the menaces of a mob and the dread of sovereign 
power. 

Could any thing like this have happened in this coun- 
try? We all know that it is impossible. We all know, 
that no dangers, no threats, no fears, either of Caesar 
or of the people, could ever induce a British judge to 
eondemn to death a man, whom he in his conscience be- 
lieved to be innocent. And what is it that produces this 
difference between a Roman and a British judge? It is 
this : that the former had no other principle to govern 

2E 



314 LECTURE XXII. 

his conduct but natural reason, or what would now be 
called philosophy ; which, though it would sometimes 
point out to him the path of duty, yet could never in- 
spire him with fortitude enough to persevere in it in 
critical and dangerous circumstances, in opposition to 
the frowns of a tyrant or the clamours of a multitude. 
Whereas the British judge, in addition to his natural 
sentiments of right and wrong, and the dictates of the 
moral sense, has the principle of religion also to influ- 
ence his heart : he has the unerring and inflexible rules 
of evangelical rectitude to guide him : he has that which 
will vanquish every other fear, the fear of God, before 
his eyes. He knows, that he himself must one day 
stand before the Judge of all ; and that consideration 
keeps him firm to his duty, be the dangers that surround 
ever so formidable and tremendous. 

This is one, among a thousand other proofs, of the be- 
nefits we derive, even in the present life, from the 
Christian revelation. It has, in fact, had a most salu- 
tary and beneficial influence on our most important tem- 
poral interests. Its beneficent spirit has spread itself 
through all the different relations and modifications of 
human society, and communicated its kindly influence 
to almost every public and private concern of mankind. 
It has not only purified, as we have seen, the adminis- 
tration of justice, but it has insensibly worked itself into 
the inmost frame and constitution of civil societies. It 
has given a tinge to the complexion of their govern- 
ments and to the temper of their laws. It has softened 
the rigour of despotism, and lessened, in some degree, 
the horrors of war. It has descended into families, has 
diminished the pressure of private tyranny, improved 
every domestic endearment, given tenderness to the pa- 
rent, humanity to the master, respect to superiors, to 
inferiors security and ease ; and left, in short, the most 
evident traces of its benevolent spirit in all the various 
subordinations, dependencies, and connections of social 
life. 

But to return to the Roman governor. Having thus 
basely shrunk from his duty, and, contrary to his own 
conviction, condemned an innocent man, he endeavoured 
to clear himself from this guilt, and to satisfy his con- 
science, by the vain ceremony of washing his hands 
before the multitude, and declaring, "that he was in- 
nocent of the blood of that just person." Alas ! not all 



MATTHEW XXVII. 315 

the water of the ocean could wash away the foul and 
indelible stain of murder from his soul. Yet he hoped 
to transfer it to the accomplices of his crime. " See ye 
to it," says he to the people. And what answer did that 
people make to him? His blood," said they, "be on us, 
and on our children ! " A most fatal imprecation, and 
most dreadfully fulfilled upon them at the siege of Jeru- 
salem, when the vengeance of Heaven overtook them 
with a fury unexampled in the history of the world > 
when they were exposed at once to the horrors of fa- 
mine, of sedition, of assassination, and the sword of 
the Romans. And it is very remarkable, that there was 
a striking correspondence between their crime and their 
punishment. They put Jesus to death when the nation 
was assembled to celebrate the passover ; and, when the 
nation was assembled for the same purpose, Titus shut 
them up within the walls of Jerusalem. The rejection 
of the true Messiah was their crime, and the following 
of false Messiahs to their destruction was their punish- 
ment. They bought Jesus as a slave, and they them- 
selves were afterwards sold and bought as slaves, at the 
lowest prices. They preferred a robber and murderer to 
Jesus, whom they crucified between two thieves ; and 
they themselves were afterwards infested with bands of 
thieves and robbers. They put Jesus to death lest the 
Romans should come and take away their place and 
nation ; and the Romans did come and take away their 
place and nation*. And what is still more striking, and 
still more strongly marks the judgment of God upon 
them, they were punished with that very kind of death, 
which they were so eager to inflict on the Saviour of 
mankind, the death of the cross ; and that in such pro- 
digious numbers, that Josephus assures us there wanted 
wood for crosses, and room to place them inf. 
The history then proceeds as follows : — 
" Then released he Barabbas unto them ; and when 
he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified." 
It was the custom of the inhuman Romans to scourge 
their criminals before they crucified them ; as if the ex- 
quisite tortures of crucifixion were not sufficient without 
adding to them those of the scourge. But in this in- 
stance the Roman soldiers went farther still ; they im~ 

* Newton on Pronhecy, vol.ii, p. 354. 

t De Bell. Jud. lib. v, cap. Si, p. 1247, ed. Hods, 



316 LECTURE XXII. 

proved upon the cruelty of their masters, and to torments 
they added the most brutal mockery and insult. " Then 
the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common 
hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers ; 
and they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. 
And when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put 
it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand ; and they 
bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, 
Hail, king of the Jews ! And they spit upon him, and 
took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after 
they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, 
and put his ov/n raiment on him, and led him away to 
be crucified." One hastens over the scene of insolence 
and outrage with averted eyes, and can hardly bring 
one's mind to believe that any thing in the shape of man 
could have risen to this height of wanton barbarity. 
What a difference between this treatment of an innocent 
and injured man, to that of the vilest criminal in this 
country previous to his execution ; and how strongly does 
it mark the difference between the spirit of Paganism 
and the spirit of Christianity ! " And as they came out 
they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name : him they 
compelled to bear his cross." It was usual for criminals 
to bear their own cross ; but when they were feeble (as 
the blessed Jesus might well be after all his bitter suf- 
ferings) they compelled some one to bear it for him ; 
and this Cyrenian was probably known to be a favourer 
of Christ. " And when they were come to a place called 
Golgotha, they gave him vinegar to drink, mingled with 
gall -j " a kind of stupefying potion, intended to abate the 
sense of pain, and to hasten death. " And they crucified 
him, and parted his garments, casting lots ; that it might 
be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They 
parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture 
did they cast lots." This is a prediction of king David's, 
in the twenty-second Psalm. " And sitting down, they 
watched him there ; and set up over him his accusation, 
written, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews : " for in extra- 
ordinary cases it was usual to place such inscriptions 
oyer the criminal. But with regard to this, a remarkable 
circumstance occurred. We learn from St. John, that 
many of the Jews read this inscription, which gave them 
infinite offence ; as being a declaration to all the world 
that Jesus really was their king. The chief priests there- 
fore came to Pilate, and begged of him to alter the in- 



MATTHEW XXVII. 317 

scription; and instead of writing, " This is the King of 
the Jews," to write, " He said I am the King of the 
Jews/' Pilate, who put up this inscription out of 
mockery, now retained it, like a true Roman, out of 
obstinacy ; " What I have written," says he, peevishly, 
"I have written;" and it shall stand; unconscious of 
what he was saying, and of his being overruled all the 
while by an unseen hand, which thus compelled him to 
bear an undesigned testimony to a most important truth ; 
that the very man, whom he had crucified as a male- 
factor, did not merely say that he was the King of the 
Jews, the true Messiah, but that he really was so. 

" Then were two thieves crueified with him, the one 
on the right hand, the other on the left." This was done 
with a view of adding to the ignominy of our Saviour's 
sufferings. But this act of malignity, like many other 
instances of the same nature, answered a purpose which 
the authors of it little thought of or intended. It was 
the completion of a prophecy of Isaiah, in which, al- 
luding to this very transaction, he says of the Messiah, 
" he was numbered with the transgressors*." They 
then continued their insults upon him, even while hang- 
ing in agony upon the cross, as we find related in the 
five following verses. We are then told, that " from the 
sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the 
ninth hour." The sixth hour of the Jews corresponds to 
our twelve o'clock, and their ninth hour, of course, to our 
three. There was therefore a darkness over all the earth, 
from twelve at noon till three in the afternoon. This 
darkness must have been supernatural and miraculous. 
It could not be an eclipse of the sun, because that can- 
not happen but in the new moon ; whereas this was at 
the feast of the passover, which was always celebrated at 
the full moon. It is taken notice of by several ancient 
writers, both Heathen and Christian; and Tertullian 
expressly declares, that it was mentioned in the Roman 
archives t. From whence it appears, that it was not con- 
fined to the land of Judaea, but extended itself, as it is ex- 
pressed by St. Luke, " over all the earth}." 

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud 
voice, saying, " Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani ? that is to 
say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me 1 " 
We are not from hence to imagine, that Jesus meant by 

* Isaiah liii, 12. t Tertull. Apol. cap. xxi. $ Luke xxiii, 44, 

2E3 



3ia LECTURE XXII. 

these words to express any distrust of God's favour and 
kindness towards him, or any apprehension that the light 
of his countenance was withdrawn from him. This was 
impossible. He well knew, that under that load of af- 
fliction, which, for the salvation of mankind, he volun- 
tarily took upon himself, he was still his heavenly Fa- 
ther's " beloved Son, in whom he was well pleased." 
These expressions, therefore, of seeming despondence, 
were nothing more than the natural and almost unavoid- 
able effusions of a mind tortured with the acutest pain, 
and hardly conscious of the complaints it uttered ; of 
which many similar instances occur in the Psalms. 
Indeed these words themselves are the beginning of the 
twenty- second Psalm, which perhaps our Lord recited 
throughout, or at least undoubtedly meant to apply the 
whole of it to himself. And this very Psalm, although 
in the outset it breathes an air of dejection and com- 
plaint, yet ends in expressing the firmest trust in the 
mercy and the protection of God. And our Lord him- 
self, when he breathed his last, committed himself with 
boundless confidence to the care of the Almighty : " Fa- 
ther, into thy hands I commend my spirit*." 

Then some of them that stood there, when they heard 
him crying out " Eli, Eli," deceived by the similitude 
of the sound, said, " This man calleth for Elias. And 
straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and 
filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him 
to drink." This, as St. John tells us, was done in con- 
sequence of Jesus saying, " I thirst." The rest said, 
" Let be ; let us see whether Elias will come to save him." 
" Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, 
gave up the ghost." This was about the ninth hour, or 
three in the afternoon. And as he was crucified at the 
third hour, or at nine in the morning, he had hung no 
less than six hours in agonies upon the cross. And this, 
let it never be forgotten, was for us men, and for our 
salvation ! " And, behold ! the veil of the temple was 
rent in twain, from the top to the bottom ; and the earth 
did quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were 
opened ; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 
and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and 
went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." 

Such were the convulsions into which the whole frame 

* Luke xxiii, 46. 



MATTHEW XXVII. 319 

of nature was thrown, when the Lord of all yielded up 
his life. 

The veil of the temple we are told, in the first place, 
was rent in twain from top to the bottom. 

The Jewish temple was divided into several parts ; 
the most sacred was called the Holiest, or the Holy of 
Holies, into which none but the high-priest might enter, 
and that only once in a year. It was considered as a 
type of heaven ; and was separated from what was called 
the holy place, or the place where divine worship was 
celebrated by a curtain of rich tapestry, which is here 
called the veil of the temple. This veil, when our Sa- 
viour expired, was rent in twain from the top to the bot- 
tom 3 by which was signified the abolition of the whole 
Mosaic ritual, the removal of the partition between Jew 
and Gentile, and the admission of the latter (on the 
terms of the Gospel covenant) into heaven, or the Holy 
of Holies. " And the earth did quake, and the rocks 
rent." This earthquake is mentioned by heathen authors 
as having, in the reign of Tiberius, destroyed twelve 
cities in Asia*. "And the graves were opened, and 
many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came 
out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the 
holy city, and appeared unto many." Who the holy 
persons were which then arose from their graves must 
be matter of mere conjecture ; but most probably some 
of those who had believed in Christ, such as old Simeon, 
and whose persons were known in the city. 

Now when the centurion, and they that were with him 
watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things 
that were done, they feared greatly, saying, " Truly this 
was the Son of God." 

The centurion here mentioned was the Roman cap- 
tain, who, with a guard of soldiers, was ordered to 
attend the crucifixion of Jesus, and see the sentence 
executed. He placed himself, as St. Mark informs us, 
over against Jesus. From that station he kept his eye 
constantly fixed upon him, and observed with atten- 
tion every thing he said or did. And when he saw the 
meekness, the patience, the resignation, the firmness, 
with which our Lord endured the most excruciating tor- 

* Taciti Annal. lib. ii, cap. xxxvii; Suet, in Tib. vi, 448; Pliru 
Nat. Hist. lib. ii, cap. lxxxiv. 



320 LECTURE XXII. 

ments ; when he heard him at one time fervently pray- 
ing for his murderers, at another disposing with dignity 
and authority of a place in Paradise to one of his fellow- 
sufferers ; and at length, with that confidence, which 
nothing hut conscious virtue and conscious dignity could 
at such a time inspire, recommending his spirit into the 
hands of his heavenly Father ; he could not but con- 
clude him to be a most extraordinary person, and some- 
thing more than human. But when, moreover, he ob- 
served the astonishing events that took place when Jesus 
expired ; the agitation into which the whole frame of 
nature seemed to be thrown ; the supernatural darkness, 
the earthquake, the rending of rocks, the opening of 
graves ; he then burst out involuntarily into that striking 
exclamation. " Truly this was the Son of God." 

Here, then, we have a testimony to the divine character 
of our Lord, which must be considered as in the highest 
degree impartial and incorrupt ; the honest, unsolicited 
testimony of a plain man, a soldier and a heathen ; the 
testimony, not of one who was prejudiced in favour of 
Christ and his religion, but of one, who, by habit and 
education, was probably strongly prejudiced against 
them. 

And it is not a little remarkable, that the contempla- 
tion of the very same scene, which so forcibly struck the 
Eoman centurion, has extorted a similar confession from 
one of the most eloquent of modern sceptics, who has 
never been accused of too much credulity, and who, 
though he could bring himself to resist the evidence both 
of prophecy and of miracles, and was therefore certainly 
no bigot to Christianity, yet was overwhelmed with the 
evidence arising from the character, the sufferings, and 
the death of Jesus. I allude to the celebrated com- 
parison between the death of Socrates and the death of 
Jesus, drawn by the masterly pen of Rousseau. The 
passage is probably well known to a large part of this 
audience ; but it affords so forcible and so unprejudiced 
a testimony to the divinity of Christ, and bears so strik- 
ing a resemblance to that of the centurion, that I shall 
be pardoned, I trust, for bringing it once more to your 
recollection, and introducing it here as the conclusion of 
this Lecture. 

" Where," says he, " is the man, where is the philoso- 
pher, who can act, suffer, and die, without weakness, 



MATTHEW XXVII. 321 

and without ostentation'? When Plato describes his 
imaginary just man, covered with all the opprobrium of 
guilt, yet at the same time meriting the sublimest re- 
wards of virtue,' he paints precisely every feature in the 
character of Jesus Christ. The resemblance is so strik- 
ing that all the fathers have observed it, and it is impos- 
sible to be deceived in it. What prejudice, what blind- 
ness must possess the mind of that man, who dares to 
compare the son of Sophroniscus with the son of Mary ! 
What a distance is there between the one and the other ! 
The death of Socrates, philosophizing calmly with his 
friends, is the most gentle that can be wished ; that of 
Jesus, expiring in torments, insulted, derided, and re- 
viled by all the people, the most horrible that can be 
imagined. Socrates, taking the poisoned cup, blesses 
the man who presents it to him ; and who, in the very 
act of presenting it, melts into tears. Jesus, in the midst 
of the most agonizing tortures, prays for his enraged per- 
secutors. Yes, if the life and death of Socrates are those 
of a sage, the life and death of Jesus are those of a 
God." 



LECTURE XXIIL 



MATTHEW XXVII, XXVIII. 

In the preceding Lecture we closed the dismal scene 
of our Lord's unparalleled sufferings ; on which it is im- 
possible to reflect without astonishment and horror, and 
without asking ourselves this question, Whence came it 
to pass, that so innocent, so excellent, so divine a person 
as the beloved Son of God, in whom he was well pleased, 
should be permited by his heavenly Father to be ex- 
posed to such indignities and cruelties, and finally to un- 
dergo the exquisite torments of the cross ? The answer 
is, that the occasion of all this is to be sought for in our 
own sinful nature, in the depravity and corruption of 
the human heart, in the extreme wickedness of every 
kind which overspread the whole world at the time of 
our Lord's appearance upon earth, and which must ne- 
cessarily have subjected the whole human race to the 
severest effects of the Divine displeasure, had not some 
atonement, some expiation, some satisfaction to their 
offended Maker, been interposed between them and the 
punishment so justly due to them. This expiation, this 
atonement, the Son of God himself voluntarily consented 
to become, and paid the ransom required for our deliver- 
ance by his own death upon the cross. " He gave himself 
for us/' as the Scriptures express it, " an offering and a 
sacrifice to God. He was the Lamb slain from the foun- 
dation of the world. He suffered for sin, the just for the 
unjust, that he might bring us to God. He was wounded 
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities ; 
with his stripes we were healed. In his own blood he 
washed us from our sins ; in his own body he bore our 
sins upon the tree, that we being dead unto sin might 



MATTHEW XXVII, XXVIIL 323 

live unto righteousness *." This is that great doctrine 
of redemption, which is so fully explained and so 
strongly insisted on in various parts of the sacred 
writings, which forms so essential a part of the Chris- 
tian system, and is the grand foundation of all our 
hopes of pardon and acceptance at the great day of 
retribution. 

This mode of vicarious punishment, this substitution 
of an innocent victim in the room of an offending person, 
can be no surprise to any one that reflects on the well- 
known practice of animal sacrifices for the expiation of 
guilt, which prevailed universally, not only among the 
Jews, but throughout the whole heathen world ; and 
which evidently proves it to have ~been the established 
opinion of mankind, that (as the apostle expresses it J 
"" without blood there could be no remission U" 

Still it must be acknowledged, that in the stupendous 
work of our redemption, there is something far beyond 
the power of our limited faculties to comprehend- 
That the Son of God himself should feel such com- 
passion for the human race, for the wretched inhabitants 
of this small spot in the vast system of the universe, as 
voluntarily to undertake the great, and arduous, and pain- 
ful task of rescuing them from sin and misery, and 
■eternal death ; that for this purpose he should con- 
descend to quit the bosom of his Father and the joys of 
heaven ; should divest himself of the glory that he had 
before the world began ; should not only take upon him- 
self the nature of man, but the form of a servant ; should 
submit to a low and indigent condition, to indignities, to 
injuries and insults, and at length to a disgraceful and 
excruciating death ; — is indeed a mystery, but it is a mys- 
tery of kindness and of mercy ; it is as the apostle truly 
calls it, " a love that passeth knowledge:}: ;" a degree of 
tenderness, pity, and condescension, to which we have 
neither words nor conceptions in any degree equal. It 
is impossible for us not to cry out on this occasion with the 
Psalmist, " Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of 
him 1 and the son of man, that thou visitest him$ V* 

But what effect should this reflection have upon our 
hearts'? Should it dispose us to join with the disputer 

* Ephes. v, 2; Rev. xiii, 8; I Pet. iii> 18; Isa. liii, f>; Rev. i, 5 ; 
3 Pet. ii, 24, 

f Heb. ix, 22. t Ep&es. ii', 19. § Psalm viii, 4. 



324 LECTURE XXIII. 

of this world in doubting or denying the wisdom of the 
Almighty in the mode of our redemption, and in quar- 
relling with the means he has made use of to save us, 
because they appear to our weak understanding strange 
and unaccountable] Shall the man who is sinking 
under a mortal disease refuse the medicine which will 
infallibly restore him, because he is ignorant of the in- 
gredients of which it is composed 1 Shall the criminal 
who is condemned to death reject the pardon that is un- 
expectedly offered to him, because he cannot conceive 
in what manner and by what means it was obtained for 
him? Shall we, who are all criminals in the sight of 
God, and are all actually (till redeemed by Christ) 
under the sentence of death ; shall we strike back the 
arm that is graciously stretched out to save us, merely 
because the mercy offered to us is so great that we are 
unable to grasp with our understanding the whole nature 
and extent of itl Shall the very magnitude, in short, 
of the favour conferred upon us, be converted into an 
argument against receiving it ; and shall we determine 
not to be saved, because God choses to do it, not in our 
way, but his own 1 That our redemption by Christ is a 
mystery, a great and astonishing mystery, we readily ac- 
knowledge. But this was naturally to be expected in a 
work of such infinite difficulty as that of rendering the 
mercy of God, in pardoning mankind, consistent with 
the exercise of his justice, and the support of his autho- 
rity, as the moral Governor of the world. Whatever 
could effect this, must necessarily be something far 
beyond the comprehension of our narrow understandings \ 
that is, must necessarily be mysterious. And, therefore, 
this very circumstance, instead of shocking our reason, 
and staggering our faith, ought to confirm the one, and 
satisfy the other. 

After the crucifixion of our Lord follows the account 
of his burial by Joseph of Arimathea, who went to Pilate 
and begged the body of Jesus; and having obtained it, 
wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own 
new tomb, which he had hewn out of the rock ; and he 
rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and de- 
parted. On this I shall make no other observation than 
that it was the exact fulfilment of a prophecy in Isaiah, 
where, speaking of the promised Messiah, or Christ, it is 
said, "he shall make his grave with the rich *." And 
* Isaiah liii, 9. 



vlTJiFAN \\\il, XWII1, 125 

•iccordingly Joseph, we are told, was a rich man and an 
honourable counsellor*. 

11 Now the next day that followed the day of the prepa- 
ration," that is, on the Saturday, " the chief priests and 
Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we 
remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, 
After three days I will rise again. Command, therefore, 
that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest 
his disciples come by night and steal him away, and say 
unto the people, he is risen from the dead; so the last 
error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto 
them, Ye have a watch, go your way, mate it as sure 
as you can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, 
sealing the stone, and setting the watchf." 

Here we see the chief priests using every do 
precaution to prevent a fraud. For this pur p ose they 
went to Pilate to beg for a guard, immediately aft 
Lord was buried. It is indeed here said, that they 
went * l the next day that followed the day of the prepa- 
ration," the day on which Jesus was crucified, 'I his 
iooks, at the first view, as if the sepulchre had remained 
one whole night without a guard. But this was n 
The chief priests went to Pilate as soon as the sun was 
set on Friday, the day of the preparation and crucifixion ; 
for then began the following day, or Saturday ; as the 
Jews always began to reckon their day from the pre- 
ceding evening. They had a guard, therefore, as soon 
as they po- a the body was deposited in 

the sepulchre : and one cannot help admiring the wis- 
dom of Providence in so disponing events, that the ex- 
treme anxiety or these men, to prevent collusion, should 
be the means of adding the testimony of sixty unexcep- 
tionable witnesses (the number of the Pvoman sol 
on guard) to the truth ot the resurrection, and of es- 
tablishing the reality of it beyond all power of contra- 
diction. It is only :y to add on this head, that 
the circumstance of sealing the stone was a precaution 
of which several instances occur in ancient times, par- 
ticularly in the prophecy of Daniel, where we read, that 
when Daniel was thrown into the den of lions, a stone 
was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den, and 
the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the 
signet of his lords, that the purpose might not be changed 
concerning Daniel*. 

Matt, xxvii, 0," ; Mai 4.^. 
I I ■. ■ ■ ". ■ . mid ri, 17. 

•: f 



326 LECTURE XXIII. 

The chief priests, having taken these precautions, waited 
probably with no small impatience for the third day after 
the crucifixion, when Jesus had foretold that he should 
rise again ; but when they made no doubt, that they 
should find the body in the sepulchre, and convict him 
of deceit and imposture. 

On the other hand, it might naturally be imagined, that 
the disciples, after having received from their Lord re- 
peated assurances that he would rise on the third day 
from the dead, would anxiously look for the arrival of 
that day, with a certain confidence that these promises 
would be fulfilled, and that they should see their beloved 
master rescued from the grave, and restored to life. 

But this seems to have been by no means the real 
state of their minds. It does not appear that they en- 
tertained any hopes of Jesus' resurrection. Shocked and 
confounded, and dismayed at finding him condemned to 
the ignominious death of the cross, they forgot every 
thing he had said to them respecting his rising again. 
When, therefore, he was led to punishment, they all for- 
sook him, and fled. Most of them seem to have kept 
themselves concealed during the whole time of Jesus's 
being in the grave, and to have given themselves up to 
sorrow and despair. They had not even the courage or 
the curiosity to go to the sepulchre on the third day, to 
see whether the promised event had taken place or not. 
When two of them going to Emmaus met Jesus, their 
conversation plainly showed, that they were disappointed 
in their expectations, " We trusted/' said they, " that 
it had been he which should have delivered Israel* ;" 
and when the women who had been at the sepulchre 
told the apostles that Jesus was risen, "their words 
seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them 
notf." 

The women, it is true, came to the sepulchre early in 
the morning of the third day; but they came to embalm 
the dead body, and of course not with the hope of seeing 
a living one. 

So far then is perfectly clear, that the disciples were 
not at all disposed to be over-credulous on this occasion. 
Their prejudices and prepossessions lay the contrary 
way; and nothing but the most irresistible evidence 
would be able to convince them of a fact, which they 
appeared to think in the highest degree improbable. 

* Luke xxiv, 21. t Luke xxiv, 11. 



MATTHEW XXVII, XXVIII. 327 

Let us now then see what this evidence of the resur- 
rection was. In the beginning of the 28th chapter, on 
which we are now entering, St. Matthew informs us, 
" that in the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn 
towards the first day of the week," that is, according to 
our way of reckoning, very early on the Sunday morning 
(our Lord having been crucified on the Friday), " came 
Mary Magdalen, and the other Mary, the mother of 
James and Joses, to see the sepulchre ; M and, as we learn 
from the other evangelists, they brought with them the 
spices they had purchased to embalm the body of Jesus. 
"And, behold, there was a great earthquake : for the angel 
of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled 
back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His 
countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white 
as snow. And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and 
became as dead men. And the angel answered and said 
unto the women, Fear not ye ; for I know that ye seek 
Jesus which was crucified. He is not here ; for he is 
risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord 
lay; and go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is 
risen from the dead ; and, behold, he goeth before you 
into Galilee ; there shall ye see him. Lo ! I have told 
you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre 
with fear and great joy, and did run to bring his disci- 
ples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, be- 
hold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail ! and they came 
and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then 
said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid. Go, tell my 
brethren, that they go into Galilee, and there shall they 
see me*." 

This is the relation given by St. Matthew of our Lord's 
first appearance, after his resurrection, to the women 
who came to the sepulchre. The accounts given by the 
other three evangelists are substantially the same, though 
differing in a few minute circumstances of no moment ; 
which however have been very ably reconciled by many 
learned men. I shall therefore wave all discussions of 
this kind, and confine myself to the main fact of the 
resurrection, in which all the evangelists agree, and of 
which the proofs are numerous and clear. 

The principal and most obvious are those which arise 
from the various appearances which Jesus made after 

* Matt, xxviii, 1—10. 



328 LECTURE XXIII. 

his resurrection to various persons, and at various 
times. 

The first was to Mary Magdalen alone *. 

The second, to her in company with several other 
women, as we have just seenf. 

The third to Peter J. 

The fourth, to the two disciples going to EmmausJ. 

The fifth to the apostles in Jerusalem, when they were 
assembled with the doors shut on the first day of the 
week ; at which time he showed them his hands and 
his feet, pierced with the nails ; and did eat before 
them||.; 

The sixth, to the apostles a second time, as they sat 
at meat, when he satisfied the doubts of the incredulous 
Thomas, by making him thrust his hand into his side^I. 

The seventh, to Peter and several of his disciples at 
the lake of Tiberias, when he also ate with them **. 

The eighth, and last, was to above five hundred bre- 
thren at once It. 

There are no less than eight distinct appearances of 
our Lord to his disciples, after his resurrection, recorded 
by the sacred historians. And can we believe that all 
those different persons could be deceived in these ap- 
pearances of one, whose countenance, figure, voice, and 
manner they had for so long a time been perfectly well 
acquainted with ; and who now, not merely presented 
himself to their view transiently and silently, but ate, 
and drank, and conversed with them, and suffered them 
to touch and examine him thoroughly, that they might 
be convinced by all their senses, that it was truly their 
beloved Master, and not a spirit that conversed with them. 
In all this surely it is impossible that there could be any 
delusion or imposition. Was it then a tale invented by 
the disciples to impose upon others 1 Why they should 
do this it is not easy to conceive ; because it would have 
been an imposition, not only on others, but on them- 
selves. It would have been an attempt to persuade 
themselves that their Master was risen, when he really 
was not ; from whence no possible benefit could arise to 
them, but, on the contrary, grief, disappointment, and 
mortification in the extreme. But besides this, the nar- 

* Mark xvi, 9. i Matt, xxviii, 9. t 1 Cor. xv, 5. 

$ Luke xxiv, IS. j) John xx, 19; Luke xxiv, 37 — 43. 

I 1 John xx, 26, ** John xxi, 1. ft 1 Cor. xv, 6. 



MATTHEW XXVII, XXVIII. 329 

ratives themselves of this great event bear upon the very 
face of them the strongest marks of reality and truth. 
They describe, in so natural a manner, the various emo- 
tions of the disciples on their first hearing of our Lord's 
resurrection, that no one, who is acquainted with the 
genuine workings of the human mind, can possibly sus- 
pect any thing like fraud in the case. When the women 
were first told by the angels that Christ was risen, and 
were ordered to tell the disciples, they departed quickly 
from the sepulchre with fear and great joy * ; with joy at 
the unexpected good news they had just heard ; and with 
fear, not only from the sight of the angel, but lest the 
glad tidings he had told them should not prove true. 
They therefore " trembled, and were amazed, and ran 
to bring the disciples word ; neither said they any thing 
to any man, for they were afraid t." And when they 
told these things to the apostles, their words seemed to 
them as idle tales, and they believed them not^:. When 
Jesus himself appeared to the apostles at Jerusalem, 
they were terrified and affrighted, and thought they had 
seen a spirit ; and they believed not for joy, and won- 
dered §. When he appeared again unto the eleven as 
they sat at meat, they were so incredulous that he up- 
braided them with their unbelief ||, and Thomas would 
not be convinced without thrusting his hand into his 
side %, This certainly was not the behaviour of men 
who were fabricating an artful story to impose upon the 
world, but of men who were themselves astonished and 
overpowered with an event, which they did not in the 
least expect, and which it was with the utmost difficulty 
they could be brought to believe. 

The account, therefore, of the resurrection given by 
the evangelists may safely be relied upon as true. 

It may however be said, that this account is the re~ 
presentation of friends, of those who were interested in 
asserting the reality of a resurrection ; but that there is 
probably another story told by the opposite party, by the 
Jews and the Romans, which may set the matter in a 
very different point of view ; and that before we can 
judge fairly of the question, we must hear what these 
have to say upon it as well as the evangelists. This is 
certainly very proper and reasonable. There is, we 
acknowledge, another account given by the Jews, re- 

* Matt, xxviii) 8. t Mark xvi, 8. t Luke xxiv, II. 

* Lake xxiv, 37— 41. g Mark xvi, 14. f John xx, 27, 

2F3 



330 LECTURE XXIII. 

specting the resurrection of Christ ; and, to show the 
perfect fairness and impartiality of the sacred historians, 
and how little they wish to shrink from the severest in- 
vestigation of the truth, they themselves tell us what this 
opposite story was. In the eleventh verse of this chap- 
ter, St. Matthew informs us, " that as the women were 
going to tell the disciples that Jesus was risen, behold, 
some of the watch came into the city, and showed unto 
the chief priests all the things that were done. And when 
they were assembled with the elders, and had taken 
counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, say- 
ing, Say ye his disciples came by night, and stole him 
away while we slept. And if this come to the governor's 
ears, we will persuade him and secure you. So they 
took the money, and did as they were taught. And this 
saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this 
day." 

This, then, is the statement of our adversaries, pro- 
duced in opposition to that of the evangelists, which 
the latter simply relate without any observation upon it, 
without condescending to make the slightest answer to 
it, but leaving every man to judge of it for himself. And 
this, indeed, they might safely do ; for it is a fabrication 
too gross and too palpable to impose on any man of com- 
mon sense. If any person can bring himself to believe, 
that sixty Roman soldiers should be all sleeping at the 
same time on guard ; that they should be able to tell 
what was done in their sleep ; that they should have the 
boldness to confess that they slept upon their post, when 
they knew the punishment of such an offence to be 
death ; and that the disciples should be so devoid of all 
common sense as to steal away a dead body, which 
could not be of the smallest use to them, and, instead of 
proving a resurrection, was a standing proof against it ; 
if any man, I say, can prevail on himself to listen for a 
moment to such absurdities as these, he may then give 
credit to the tale of the soldiers ; but otherwise must 
treat it, as it truly deserves, with the most sovereign 
contempt. 

This senseless forgery, then, being set aside, and the 
body of Jesus being gone, and yet never having been pro- 
duced by the Jews or Romans, there remains only the 
alternative of a real resurrection. 

But besides the positive proofs of this fact which have 
been here stated, there is a presumptive one, of the most 



MATTHEW XXVII, XXVIII. 331 

furcible nature, to which I have never yet seen any 
answer, and am of opinion that none can be given. The 
proof I allude to is that which is drawn from the sud- 
den and astonishing change, which took place in the lan- 
guage and the conduct of the apostles, immediately after 
the period when they affirmed that Jesus had risen from 
the dead. From being, as we have seen, timorous and 
dejected, and discouraged at the death of their blaster, 
they suddenly became courageous, undaunted, and in- 
trepid ; and they boldly preached that very Jesus, whom 
before they had deserted in his greatest distress. This 
observation will apply, in some degree, to all the apos- 
tles, but with regard to St. Peter, more particularly, it 
holds with peculiar force. 

One of the most prominent features in the character 
of St. Peter (a character most admirably pourtrayed by 
the evangelist), is timidity of disposition. We see it in 
the terror that seized him when he was walking on the 
sea ; we see it in his deserting his Divine Master when 
he was apprehended ; then turning back to follow r him, 
but following at a distance ; not daring to go into the 
council-chamber when he was examined, but staying in 
the outer court with the servants ; and at length, when 
he was challenged as one of his disciples, denying three 
times, with the most dreadful oaths and imprecations, 
that he knew any thing of him, or had the slightest con- 
nection with him. 

This is the point of view in which St. Peter presents 
himself to us, just before our Lord's crucifixion. 

Turn now to the fourth chapter of the Acts, and see 
what his language then was, after Jesus had actually 
been put to death. 

He and John, having healed the lame man whom 
they found sitting at the gate of the temple, were ap- 
prehended, and thrown into prison, and the next day 
vyere called upon to answer for their conduct before the 
high priest, and the other chief rulers of the Jews. And 
upon being questioned by what power and by what name 
they had performed this miraculous cure, Peter answered 
them in these resolute terms : " Ye rulers of the people, 
and elders of Israel, if we be this day examined of the 
good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he 
is made whole, be it known unto you all, and to all the 
people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of 
Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from 



332 LECTURE XXIII. 

the dead, even by him doth this man stand before you 
whole. This is the stone which was set at nought by 
you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 
Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is 
none other name under heaven, given among men, 
whereby we must be saved *." And when, soon after 
this, Peter and John were straitly threatened, and 
commanded not to speak at all or teach in the name of 
Jesus, they answered and said unto them, " Whether it 
be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you, rather 
than unto God, judge ye : for we cannot but speak the 
things which we have seen and heard t«" 

What, now, is this that we hear 1 Is this the man who, 
but a short time before, had shamefully renounced his 
Divine Master, and declared, with the utmost vehe- 
mence and passion, that he was utterly unknown to 
him 1 And does this same man now, after the crucifixion 
of his Lord, and when he himself was a prisoner, and 
had reason to expect a similar fate, does this man boldly 
tell those, in whose power he was, that by the name of 
this very Jesus he had healed the lame man 1 Does he dare 
to reprove them with having crucified the Lord of life 1 
Does he dare to tell them that God had raised him from the 
dead ; that there was no other name under heaven by 
which they could be saved ; and that, in defiance of all 
their interdictions and all their menaces, he must and 
would still continue to speak what he had seen and heard? 
In what manner shall we account for this sudden and 
astonishing alteration in the language of St. Peter. There 
is, I will venture to assert, no other possible way of ac- 
counting for it, but from that very circumstance which 
St. Peter himself mentions in his speech to the high 
priest ; namely, " that he whom they had crucified was, 
by the almighty power of God, raised from the dead:}:." 
It was this change in the condition of his Divine Master 
which produced a correspondent change in the character 
and conduct of St. Peter. It was this miracle of our 
Lord's resurrection which could alone have produced 
the almost equally astonishing miracle of St. Peter's com- 
plete transformation. Had Jesus never risen from the 
dead, as he had repeatedly promised to do, he would 
have been a deceiver and an impostor ; and that St. Pe- 
ter, knowing this, should openly and boldly profess him- 

* Actsiv, 8—12. f Actsiv, 18, 20. t Actsiv, 10. 



MATTHEW XXVII, XXVIII. 333 

self his disciple when dead, after having most peremp- 
torily denied him, and disclaimed all knowledge of him 
when Living, and should expose himself to the most 
dreadful dangers in asserting a fact, which he knew to 
be false, and for the sake of a man, who had most cru- 
elly deceived and disappointed him, is a supposition ut- 
terlr repugnant to every principle of human nature, and 
every dictate of common sense ; and an absurdity too 
gross for the most determined infidel to maintain. 

We have here, then, one more proof, in addition to 
all the rest, of the resurrection of Christ, intelligible to 
the lowest, and convincing to the most improved under- 
standing. xVnd that this was the great decisive fact, 
which operated so surprising a revolution in the mind 
of St. Peter, is still farther confirmed by the stress which 
he himself laid upon it, in his answer to the high priest, 
and by the constant appeal which he and all the other 
apostles made to this argument, in preference to every 
other ; for we are told, that " with great power gave 
the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus ; 
and great grace was upon them all *." And St. Paul 
goes so far as to make the belief of this single article the 
main ground and basis of our salvation : " If thou shalt 
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt be- 
lieve in thine heart that God hath raised him from the 
dead, thou shalt be saved t." The reason of this is, be- 
cause the belief of the resurrection of Christ unavoidably 
leads to the belief of the whole Christian religion, to the 
truth of which God set his seal, by raising the author of 
it from the dead ; and the belief of the Christian revela- 
tion, if genuine and sincere, will, with the blessing of 
God on our own strenuous exertions, produce all those 
Christian graces and virtues, which, through the merits 
of our Redeemer, will render our final calling and elec- 
tion sure. 

The resurrection of Christ being thus established on 
the firmest grounds, the conclusions to be drawn from 
it are many and important ; but I shall at present con- 
fine myself to two of them, which seem more particularly 
to deserve our notice. 

The first is, that this great event of the resurrection 
affords a clear and decisive proof that Jesus was what 
he pretended to be, the Son of God ; that the religion he 

* Actsiv, 33. t Rom.x, 9, 



334 LECTURE XXIII. 

taught came from God; that, consequently, every doctrine 
he delivered ought to be believed, every command he 
gave to be obeyed, and that every thing he promised or 
threatened will certainly come to pass. For had not his 
pretensions been well founded, and his religion true, it 
is impossible that the God of truth could have given them 
the sanction of his authority, by raising him from the 
dead. But, by doing this, he gave the strongest possible 
attestation to the reality of his divine mission. 

The next inference from this fact is, that the resur- 
rection of Christ is an earnest, a pledge, and a proof of 
our own. He had promised his disciples, " that where 
he was, there should they be also :" and the Scriptures 
in numberless places assure us, that we shall rise again 
from the grave, and become immortal. Now these pro- 
mises receive the strongest confirmation from his resurrec- 
tion, which shows, in the most striking and sensible 
manner, that our bodies are capable of being raised to 
life again, and that God will actually reanimate them, 
as he did that of Jesus. In this, our Saviour acted con- 
formably to the spirit and genius of his religion, and to 
his constant method of teaching, which was, to instruct 
mankind by facts rather than by words. It was his in- 
tention (and thanks be to God that it was !), that our faith 
should stand, not in the wisdom or eloquence of man, 
but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. He 
went about, therefore, not only preaching the word, but 
doing good, doing good miraculously, making the princi- 
ples and the evidences of his religion palpable to the senses 
of mankind. When John sent to know whether he was 
the expected Messiah or no, Jesus, instead of entering 
into a long and laboured proof of his divinity, took the 
more compendious and convincing way of proving his 
point, by performing in that instant many miraculous 
cures, and then referring the Baptist to what his mes- 
sengers had seen and heard*. In the very same manner, 
in the present instance, the assurance he gave us of our 
resurrection was not speculative and argumentative, but 
practical and visible. A thousand objections might 
have been formed by the fashionable philosophers of that 
age against the possibility of restoring breath to a dead 
body, and raising it alive again from the grave. Our 
Lord could very easily have shown, by unanswerable 

* Matt, xi, 4. 



MATTHEW XXVII, XXVIII. 335 

arguments, the futility and absurdity of any such objec- 
tions. But the disputers of this world would have ca- 
villed and objected without end. And therefore, to put 
an effectual stop to all such idle controversy, and to con- 
vince all the world, that it was not a thing incredible that 
God should raise the dead, he himself rose again from 
the grave, and became the rirst fruits of them that slept. 
He triumphed over death, he threw open the gates of 
everlasting life : and whoever treads in his steps as nearly 
as they can through life, shall follow him through death 
into those blessed regions, where he is gone before to 
prepare a place for such as love and imitate him. " For 
if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead 
dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead 
shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that 
dwelleth in you *." 

Since, then, we have such expectations and such hopes ; 
what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy con- 
versation and godliness? The ancient heathen might 
say, the unbelieving libertine may still say, Let us eat 
and drink, for to-morrow we die ; let us enjoy, without 
reserve, and without measure, all the pleasures which 
this world affords ; for to-morrow we may leave it, and 
we know of no other. But how absurd would it be for 
the Christian to say this : how mad would it be for him 
to act accordingly, when he knows, that though to- 
morrow his soul may be separated from his body, yet 
that they will be again united, and live for ever in a fu- 
ture state of existence ! What an amazing difference 
does this fact make in our circumstances, and how in- 
excusable shall we be, if it does not produce a suitable 
difference in our conduct ! Even the possibility of such 
an event must have a powerful influence over our minds 
and manners; what then must be the case when it 
amounts, as it does with every sincere believer in the 
Gospel, to absolute certainty ? With what cheerfulness 
shall we acquiesce under poverty and misfortunes, when 
we reflect, that if we bear them patiently, and hold fast 
our integrity, these light afflictions, which are but for a. 
moment, shall work out for us a far more exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory ! With what indifference shall 
we contemplate the charms of wealth and power, with 
what horror shall we turn away from the pleasures of sin, 
which are but for a season, when we know, that the one 

* Rom. viii, 11. 



336 LECTURE XXIII. 

may, and the other most certainly will, cut us off from an 
eternal and invaluable inheritance! 

Suppose yourselves for a moment in some foreign king- 
dom, where, after having been obliged to spend many 
years, you are at length suffered to return to your own 
country. Suppose farther, that in this country you have 
left families that are infinitely dear to you, friends whom 
you exceedingly love and esteem, wealth and honours to 
the utmost extent of your wishes. When, with the most 
impatient longings after all these blessings, you set out 
upon your return to your native land, will any allure- 
ments that you meet with on the road tempt you from 
your main object 1 Will any accidental hardships or in- 
conveniences deter you from pursuing your journey 1 W T ill 
you not break through all obstructions, resist all tempt- 
ations, and press forward with alacrity and vigour to- 
wards your beloved home 1 And why then will you not 
seek your heavenly country with the same ardour and 
perseverance that you would your earthly one 1 You are 
all *' strangers and pilgrims upon earth. This world is 
not your home, though you are too apt to think it so. 
You belong to another city, you are subjects of a better 
kingdom, where infinitely greater joys await you than 
have been just described, or can by the utmost stretch 
of imagination be conceived. Every day you live, every 
moment you breathe, brings you nearer to this country j 
and the grave itself, dismal as it appears, is nothing 
more than the gate that leads you into it. 

Conscious, then, of the dignity and importance of our 
high and heavenly calling, which renders us candidates 
for the kingdom of G od, and heirs of immortality, let us 
persevere steadily and uniformly in our progress towards 
those celestial mansions, which are prepared for all the 
faithful servants of Christ ; where we shall be released from 
all the endless anxieties, the vain hopes, and causeless 
fears, that now agitate and disquiet us, and shall, through 
the merits of our Redeemer, be rewarded, not merely with 
uninterrupted tranquillity and repose (the utmost felicity 
of the pagan Elysium) ; not merely with a visionary post- 
humous reputation, which commences not till we are 
incapable of enjoying it ; but with a crown of glory that 
fadeth not away, a real immortality in the kingdom of our 
Father and our God. 



LECTURE XXIV, 



MATTHEW XXVIII. 

The last Lecture ended with the history of our Lord s 
resurrection. The evangelist then proceeds to give a con- 
cise account of what passed after that great event had 
taken place. 

" Then/' says he, " the eleven disciples went away into 
Galilee, into a mountain, where Jesus had appointed 
them*." 

By the eleven disciples he means the apostles, who, 
though originally twelve, were now reduced to eleven, 
by the defection and death of Judas. These, Jesus had 
commanded to meet him in Galilee. " Go, tell my 
brethren," says he to the women, " that they go into Ga- 
lilee, and there shall they see me." There therefore 
the apostles went about eight days after the resurrection, 
and many ethers with them ; for this probably was the 
time and the place when he showed himself to about 
five hundred brethren at once. " And when they saw 
him, they worshipped him ; but some doubted." Here 
we have the authority of the apostles themselves for the 
worship of Christ. The women, when they first saw Je- 
sus, paid him the same adoration : " they came and held 
him by the feet, and worshipped him t." But some, It 
is added, doubted. And where can be the wonder, if 
among five hundred persons there should be two or three, 
who, like the disciples mentioned by St. Luke £, believed 
not for joy, and wondered ; that is (as is very natu- 
ral), were afraid to believe what they so ardently wished 
to be true ; or who, like St. Thomas, would not believe, 
unless they touched the body of Jesus, and thrust their 
hands into his side. But their doubts, like his, were pro- 

* Matt, xxviii, 16. t Matt, xxviii, 9. * Ch. xxiv, 41, 

2G 



338 LECTURE XXIV. 

bably soon removed. This circumstance, therefore, only 
serves to show the scrupulous fidelity of the sacred his- 
torians, who, like honest men, fairly tell you every thing 
that passed on this and on similar occasions, whether it 
appears to make for them or against them. 

" And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All 
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." 

In his divine nature he had this power from all eternity ; 
but it was now to be exercised in his human nature also, 
which, from a state of humiliation, from the form of a ser- 
vant, was soon to be exalted to the highest dignity, and 
placed at the right hand of God. Accordingly, St. Paul 
informs us, that " God. raised our Lord from the dead, 
and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 
far above all principality, and power, and might, and 
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in 
this world, but in that which is to come ; and put all 
things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over 
all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness 
of him that filleth all in alF." And again, in his Epistle 
to the Philippians, he says, that " God has highly exalted 
him, and given him a name which is above every name ; 
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of 
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under 
the earth ; and that every tongue should confess that Je- 
sus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father t." In 
the same magnificent language he is spoken of in the 
book of Revelations: "Worthy is the Lamb, that was 
slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." And 
again, "Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be 
unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, 
for ever and ever^:." 

Such is the dignity of the Lord and Master whom we 
serve ; and such is that authority with which, in the two 
concluding verses of this chapter, he gives his last com- 
mand to his apostles : "Go ye, and teach all nations, 
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all 
things whatever I have commanded you : and, lo ! I am 
with you alway, even unto the end of the world." 

The ceremony, then, by which our Lord's disciples 
were to be admitted into his religion, was baptism. This 

* Ephes. i, 20—23. * Philipp. ii, 9—11. t Rev. v, 12, 13. 



MATTHEW XXVIIL 339 

was sometimes used by the Jews on the admission of 
proselytes, and by the heathens on initiation into their 
mysteries. But the baptism of Christians was to be ac- 
companied with a peculiar form of words, which dis- 
tinguished it from every other. They were to be bap- 
tized " in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost." This form of words has accordingly been used in 
the Christian church from the earliest times down to the 
present ; and is, as you all know, the mode of baptism 
adopted and constantly practised by the church of Eng- 
land ; Kid it is remarkable, not only on this account, 
but as being also one principal ground of a very dis- 
tinguished doctrine of the Gospel, and of the church of 
England, the doctrine of the Trinity. For the plain and 
natural interpretation of the words is, that by being bap- 
tized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost, we are dedicated and consecrated equally to the 
service of each of those three Divine Persons : we 
are made the servants and disciples of each, and are 
consequently bound to honour, worship, and obey each 
of them equally. This evidently implies an equality in 
their nature : " that all the fulness of the Godhead dwells 
in each." In continuation of this, we find, in various 
parts of Scripture, that all the attributes of Divinity are 
ascribed to each. And yet, as the unity of the Supreme 
Being is everywhere taught in the same Scriptures, and 
is a fundamental article of our religion, we are naturally 
led to conclude with our church, in its first article, ' ■ That 
there is but one living and true God, of infinite power 
and wisdom, the . maker and preserver of all things 
visible and invisible ; and that, in the unity of this 
Godhead, there are three persons, of one substance, 
power, and eternitv, the Father, the Son, and the Holv 
Ghost." 

That this is a very mysterious doctrine we do not 
deny ; but it is not more so than many other doctrines 
of the Christian revelation, which we all admit, and 
which we cannot reject without subverting the founda- 
tion, and destroying the very substance and essence of 
our religion. The miraculous birth and incarnation of 
our blessed Lord, his union of the human nature with 
the divine, his redemption of mankind, and his expiation 
of their sins by his death upon the cress : these are doc- 
trines plainly taught in Scripture, and yet as incompre- 
hensible to our finite understandings as the doctrine of 
three persons and one God. But what we contend for in 



340 LECTURE XXIV. 

all these instances is, that these mysteries, although con- 
fessedly above our reason, are not contrary to it. This is 
a plain and a well-known distinction, and in the present 
case an incontrovertible one. No one, for instance, can 
say, that the supposition of three persons and one God is 
contrary to reason. We cannot, indeed, comprehend such 
a distinction in the Divine nature ; but, unless we knew 
perfectly what that nature is, it is impossible for us to 
say that such a distinction may not subsist in it con- 
sistent with its unity. The truth is, on a subject where 
we have no clear ideas at all, our reasoning faculties must 
fail us, and we must be content to submit (as well we 
may) to the clear and explicit declarations of holy writ. 
It is, indeed, natural for the hnman mind to wish, that 
every thing in religion should be intelligible and plain, 
and that there should be no difficulties to perplex and 
stagger our faith. But, natural as this wish may be, is it 
a reasonable one 1 Do we find, that in the most import- 
ant concerns of the present life, in those where our most 
essential interests, our property, our welfare, our health, 
our reputation, our very life, are at stake, that no difficul- 
ties, no perplexities, no intricacies occur ; that everything 
is plain and level before us, and that we are never at a 
loss how to act, what opinion to form, or what course to 
take ! There are few, I fancy, here present, whose ex- 
perience has not taught them, to their cost, the very re- 
verse of all this. If, then, even in the ordinary affairs of 
life, there is so much difficulty, doubt, and obscurity, 
how can we wonder to find it in religion also, in those 
inquiries that relate to an invisible world and an invisible 
Being, " to the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eter- 
nity*?" 

And let it never be forgotten, that mysteries are not 
(as is often insinuated, and often taken for granted) pe- 
culiar to the Christian religion. They belong to all reli- 
gions, even to that which is generally supposed to be of 
all others the least encumbered with difficulties, pure 
Deism 1 or, as it is sometimes called, the religion of na- 
ture, of reason, or of philosophy. 

* " So far is it from being true (as someone has said), that where 
mystery begins, religion ends ; that religion, even natural|religion, 
begins with a mystery, with the greatest of all mysteries, the self- 
existence and eternity of God. Let any one tell us how an eternity 
can be past, unless it was once present, and how that can be once 
present, which never had a beginning." — Seed's Sermons, vol. ii, 
«er. vii, p. 459. 



MATTHEW XXVIII. 341 

Who, for instance, can grasp, with the utmost stretch 
of his understanding, the idea of an Eternal Being ; of 
a Being, whose existence never had any beginning, and 
never will have an end \ Where is the man, whose thoughts 
are not lost and confounded in contemplating the im- 
mensity of a God, who is intimately present to every part 
of the universe ; who sees, with equal clearness, a king- 
dom perish and a sparrow fall, and to whom every thought 
of our hearts is perfectly well known* 1 

Who can reconcile that foreknowledge of future and 
contingent events, which is an unquestionable attribute 
of the Almighty, with that free will and free agency, 
which are no less unquestionable properties of man 1 
Who, in fine, can account, on the principles of mere na- 
tural religion, for the introduction of natural and moral 
evil into the works of a benevolent Creator, whose infi- 
nite goodness must necessarily incline him to intend the 
happiness of all his creatures \ 

These considerations may serve to show, and it might 
be shown in various other cases, that it is in vain to ex- 
pect an exemption from difficulty and mystery in any 
religion whatever. The real truth is, that not only the 
religion of nature, but the philosophy of nature, the 
works of nature, the whole face of nature, due full of 
mystery; we live and move in the midst of mystery t. 

* " J'apper9ois Dieu partout dans ses ceuvres. Je le sens en moi, 
je le vois tout autour de moi; mais sitot que je veux le contempler 
en lui meme, sitot queje veux chercherou il est, ce qu'il est, quelle 
est sa substance, il m'echappe, & rnon esprit trouble n'appercoit 
plus rien. Rousseau, v. viii, p. 32, Enfin plus je ro'efforce de con- 
templer son essence infinie, rnoins je la concois; mais elle est, cela 
me suffit; moinsje la concois, plus je l'adore. 

I have cited these fine passages from the eloquent Rousseau in his 
own language (for no translation can do justice to tbem), because no 
arguments are so convincing as those which are drawn from the 
concessions of sceptics themselves, which fall from them incidentally 
and undesignedly ; and because the sentiments here quoted stand in 
direct contradiction to that writer's cavils in other places against the 
Christian mysteries. For if, notwithstanding the difficulties which 
attend the contemplation of the Deity himself, he firmly believes his 
existence, on what ground can he make his Savoyard* vicar doubt 
the truth of the Gospel on account of its mysteries ? — Vol. viii, p. 93 . 

t This, M. Voltaire himself acknowledges; and it is a complete 
answer to all the objections he has made in various parts of his 
works to the mysteries of Revelation. See Questions sur VEncy- 
clopedie. art. Ame. 

" The whole intellectual world is full of truths incomprehensible, 

2 G 3 



342 LECTURE XXIV. 

And if, to avoid this, we have recourse to Atheism itself, 
even that will be found to be more encumbered with 
difficulties, and to require a greater degree of faith than 
all the religions in the world put together. 

Let not then the mysteries of the Gospel ever be a rock 
of offence to you, or in any degree shake the constancy 
of your faith. They are inseparable from any religion 
that is suited to the nature, to the wants, and to the 
fallen state of such a creature as man. When once we 
are convinced that the Scriptures are the word of God, 
we are then bound to receive with implicit submission, 
on the sole authority of that word, those sublime truths, 
which are far beyond the reach of any finite understand- 
ing, but which it was natural and reasonable to expect 
in a revelation pertaining to that incomprehensible Be- 
ing, whose " greatness is unsearchable, and whose ways 
are past finding out." Let us not, in short, " exercise 
ourselves too much and too curiously in great matters, 
which are too high for us, but refrain our souls, and keep 
them low*." Laying aside all the superfluity of learn- 
ing, and all the pride of human wisdom, let us hold fast 
the profession of our faith, without wavering, and with- 
out cavilling at what we cannot comprehend. Let us 
put ourselves, without reserve, into the hands of our 
heavenly Guide, and submit with boundless confidence 
to his direction, who, as he died to save us, will certainly 
never mislead us. Since we know in whom we believe ; 
since we know that the author of our religion is the Son of 
God, let us never forget that this gives him a right, a di- 
vine right, to the obedience of our understandings, as 
well as to the obedience of our will. Let us therefore 
resolutely beat down every bold imagination, every high 
thing that exalteth itself against the mysterious truths of 
the Gospel ; bringing into captivity every thought to the 
obedience of Christ, and receiving " with meekness the 
ingrafted word, which is able to save our souls t." 

Yet, however firmly we may believe all the great 
essential doctrines of the Gospel, this alone will not en- 
sure our salvation, unless to our faith we add obedience 
to all the laws of Christ. This we are expressly told in 

and yet incontestible. Such is the doctrine of the existence of God, 
and such are the mysteries admitted in Protestant communions. " — 
Rousseau, vol. ii, p. 15. 

* Psalm cxxxi, 2, 3. 1 James i, 21. 



MATTHEW XXVIII. 343 

the concluding verse of this chapter. After our Lord had 
prescribed to his disciples the form of words to be used 
in baptism, he adds, " teaching them to observe all 
things, whatsoever I have commanded you." As this is the 
parting direction, the farewell injunction, which Jesus 
left with his disciples just before he ascended into 
heaven, it shows what peculiar stress he laid upon it. It 
shows, that by making it the conclusion, the winding up 
as it were of his Gospel, he meant to express, in the 
strongest manner, the indispensable necessity of a holy 
life resulting from a vital faith. He meant to intimate to 
his own disciples, and to the ministers of his Gospel in 
every future age, that it was to be one principal object 
of their instructions and exhortations to inculcate all the 
virtues of a Christian life, and an unreserved obedience 
to all the precepts of their Divine Master. And whoever 
neglects this branch of his duty, is guilty of manifesting 
a marked contempt of the very last command that 
fell from the lips of his departing Lord. 

The few words that follow this command, and which 
conclude the Gospel of St. Matthew, contain a promise 
full of consolation, not only to the apostles themselves, 
but to all the ministers of the Gospel in every succeeding 
age. " And, lo," says our blessed Lord, " I am with you 
alway, even unto the end of the world." That is, 
although I am now about to leave you and ascend into 
heaven, and can no longer be personally present with 
you, yet the Holy Spirit, whom I have repeatedly pro- 
mised to send unto you, shall certainly come to supply 
my place, shall constantly abide with you, and shall 
enlighten, guide, assist, support, and comfort you to the 
end of the world. 

Here ends the Gospel of St. Matthew. But it must be 
observed, that in this last part of our Saviour's history 
he has been much more concise than the other evange- 
lists, and has passed over several circumstances which 
they have recorded, and of which it may be proper 
to take some notice here, before we close this Lecture. 
It appears from the other evangelists, and from the Acts 
of the Apostles, that Jesus continued among his disciples 
for forty days after his resurrection, giving them repeated 
and infallible proofs of his being actually raised from the 
dead, and " speaking to them of the things pertaining to 
the kingdom of God*." 

* Luke xxiv, 44 : Acts i, 3. 



344 LECTURE XXIV. 

In one of these discourses he took occasion to advert 
more particularly to those things that were written in 
the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, 
concerning him. He showed how exactly and minutely 
all the predictions respecting him, contained in those 
sacred books, were accomplished in his birth, his life, 
his doctrines, his sufferings, his death, and his resur- 
rection. 

This stamps at once a divine authority on those books, 
and gives a sanction to the interpretation of the passages 
alluded to, and the application of them to our blessed 
Lord, by our best and most learned expositors. 

It is added, that on this occasion he opened their 
understandings, that they might understand the Scrip- 
tures, and said unto them, " Thus it is written, and thus 
it behoved Christ to suffer, and rise from the dead the 
third day : and that repentance and remission of sins should 
be preached in his name amongst all nations, beginning 
at Jerusalem." 

He entered, we see, at large into the great evangelical 
doctrines of the atonement, of the redemption of man- 
kind by his death, of the resurrection, of repentance, 
and the remission of sins through faith in his name. 
These are most important topics, and his illustration of 
them to his disciples must have opened to them an inva- 
luable treasure of divine knowledge. And as these 
doctrines are but briefly touched upon in the Gospels, 
and more fully unfolded and explained in the Acts and 
the Epistles, it is highly probable, that a very consider- 
able part, if not the whole of what passed in these dis- 
courses of our Lord to his disciples after his resurrection, 
is faithfully preserved and detailed in those inspired 
writings. This places in a very strong light the high im- 
portance of those writings, and the high rank they ought 
to hold in our estimation, as forming an essential part of 
the Christian system, and completing the code of doc- 
trines and of duties contained in that divine revelation. 

It is remarkable, also, that St. Matthew has made no 
mention of the concluding act of our Lord's life on earth, 
his ascension into heaven. The reason of this omission 
is not, perhaps, very easy to assign, nor is it necessary. 
We know, that in several other instances various circum- 
stances are omitted by one evangelist, which are supplied 
by the rest, and others passed over by those which are 
noticed by the former ; a plain proof, by the way, that 
they did not write in concert with each other, but each 



MATTHEW XXVIII. 345 

related his own story, and selected such facts and events 
as appeared to him most deserving of notice. 

In the present case it is sufficient for our satisfaction, 
that the ascension is related by two of the evangelists, 
St. AEark and St. Luke. The latter of these tells us in his 
Gospel, and in the Acts, that " Jesus led out his apostles 
(and the disciples that were with them) to Bethany, and 
he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came 
to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them 
and carried up into heaven, and a cloud received him out 
of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly towards 
heaven, as he went up, behold two men stood' by them 
in white apparel y which also said, Ye men of Galilee, 
why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? This same Jesus, 
which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in 
like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. And 
they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with 
great joy ; and were continuallv in the temple, praising 
and blessing God*." 

The last observation I have to make is, that neither 
St. Matthew, nor any other of the evangelists, have given 
us a full and complete history of every thing that our 
Saviour did during the whole course of his ministry ; but 
have only recorded the most important and the most re- 
markable of his transactions and his miracles. Beside, 
therefore, the many irresistible proofs we already possess 
of his divine wisdom and almighty powder, there are 
many others still remaining behind, which might have 
been produced, but which the evangelists did not think 
it necessary to specify ; for St. John, in the twentieth 
chapter of his Gospel, makes this remarkable declara- 
tion : "Many other signs truly," says he," did Jesus in the 
presence of his disciples, which are not written in this 
book ; but these are written, that ye might believe that 
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that, believing, ye 
might have life through his name." God grant that this 
effect may be produced on all who now hear me ; other- 
wise my labours, and their attendance, will have been in 
vain ! 



I have now brought these Lectures to a conclusion, 
and must here take my final leave of you. It was my 
original intention and my wish to have proceeded next 

* Luke xxiv, 50—51 ; Acts i, 9— J 1. 



346 LECTURE XXIV. 

to the Acts of the Apostles, which contain the history 
of the first propagation of the Christian religion, and 
the astonishing progress it made through a large part of 
the world, by the preaching of the apostles and their co- 
adjutors, after our Lord's departure into heaven ; but I 
must not now venture into so large a field. Circum- 
stanced as I am, it would be presumption in me to ex- 
pect, either that God would grant me time to accomplish 
so arduous a work, or that you would have perseverance 
to bear with me to the conclusion. I must here, there- 
fore, close my labours, at least in this place ; and must 
now, for the last time, implore you to think and to me- 
ditate, again and again, on the important and interesting 
truths which have been unfolded to you in the course of 
these Lectures, and to form them into principles of ac- 
tion, and rules of conduct, for the regulation and direc- 
tion of the remaining part of your lives. 

In the history of our Lord, as given by St. Matthew, of 
which I have detailed the most essential parts, such a 
scene has been presented to your observation as cannot 
but have excited sensations of a very serious and very 
awful nature in your minds. You cannot but have seen, 
that the Divine Author of our religion is, beyond com- 
parison, the most extraordinary and most important per- 
sonage that ever appeared on this habitable globe. His 
birth, his life, his doctrines, his precepts, his miracles, 
his sufferings, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, 
are all without a parallel in the history of mankind. He 
called himself the Son of God, the Messiah predicted in 
the prophets, the great Redeemer and Deliverer of man- 
kind, promised in the sacred writings, through succes- 
sive ages, almost from the foundation of the world. He 
supported these great characters with uniformity, with 
consistence, and with dignity, throughout the whole 
course of his ministry. The work he undertook was the 
greatest and most astonishing that can be conceived, 
and such as before never entered into the imagination of 
man. It was nothing less than the conversion of a whole 
world from the grossest ignorance, the most abandoned 
wickedness, and the most sottish idolatry, to the know- 
ledge of the true God, to a pure and holy religion, and 
to faith in him, who was the way, the truth, and the 
life. He proved himself to have a commission from 
Heaven, for those great purposes, by such demonstra- 
tions of divine wisdom, power, and goodness, as it is 
mpossible for any fair, and ingenuous, and unprejudiced 



MATTHEW XXVIII. 347 

mind to resist. Of all this you have seen abundant in- 
stances in the course of these Lectures ; and when all 
these circumstances are collected into one point of view, 
they present such a body of evidence as must overpower, 
by its weight, all the trivial difficulties and objections 
that the wit of man can raise against the divine authority 
of the Gospel. 

Consider, in the first place, the transcendent excel- 
lence of our Lord's character, so infinitely beyond that 
of every other moral teacher ; the gentleness, the calm- 
ness, the composure, the dignity, the integrity, the spot- 
less sanctity of his manners, so utterly inconsistent with 
every idea of enthusiasm or imposture ; the compassion, 
the kindness, the tenderness he expressed for the whole 
human race, even for the worst of sinners, and the bit- 
terest of his enemies ; the perfect command he had over 
his own passions ; the temper he preserved under the 
severest provocations ; the patience, the meekness with 
which he endured the cruellest insults, and the grossest 
indignities ; the fortitude he displayed under the most 
excruciating torments ; the sublimity and importance of 
his doctrines ; the consummate wisdom and purity of his 
moral precepts, far exceeding the natural powers of a 
man born in the humblest situation, and in a remote and 
obscure corner of the world, without learning, education, 
languages, or books. Consider, farther, the minute de- 
scription of all the most material circumstances of his 
birth, life, sufferings, death, and resurrection, given by 
the ancient prophets many hundred years before he was 
born, and exactly fulfilled in him, and him only ; the 
many astonishing miracles wrought by him in the open 
face of day, before thousands of spectators, the reality of 
which is proved by multitudes of the most unexception- 
able witnesses, who sealed their testimony with their 
blood, and was even acknowledged by the earliest-and 
most inveterate enemies of the Gospel. Above all, con- 
sider those two most remarkable occurrences in the his- 
tory of our Lord, which have been particularly enlarged 
upon in these Lectures, and are alone sufficient to esta- 
blish the divinity of his person and of his religion ; I 
mean his wonderful prediction of the destruction of Je- 
rusalem by the Romans, with every minute circum- 
stance attending it ; and that astonishing and well-au- 
thenticated miracle of his resurrection from the grave, 
which was in the last Lecture set before you ; and when 



348 LECTURE XXIV. 

-you lay all these things together, and weigh them deli- 
berately and impartially, your minds must be formed in 
a very peculiar manner indeed, if they are not most 
thoroughly impressed with faith in the Son of God, and 
the Gospel which he taught. 

Taking it, then, for granted, that you firmly believe the 
Scriptures to be the word of God, that of course they con- 
tain those heavenly doctrines and rules of life by which 
you are to be guided here, and saved hereafter ; that 
the present scene is nothing more than a state of trial 
and probation for another world ; that all mankind must 
rise from the grave, and stand before the judgment seat 
of Christ, to receive from his lips their final doom ; and 
that there is no other name given under heaven by 

WHICH YOU CAN BE SAVED, BUT THAT OF JeSUS ONLY ; 

no other possible way of escaping the punishments, or 
obtaining the rewards of the Christian covenant, but 
faith in Christ, reliance on his merits, and an earnest 
endeavour to practise every virtue, and fulfil every duty 
prescribed in his Gospel ; taking it for granted that you 
believe all these things to be true, let me then ask you, 
what is the course of life which every wise man, which 
every man of common sense, must feel himself irresisti- 
bly called upon to pursue 1 Is it possible, that, with such 
awful, such divine truths as these deeply impressed upon 
your souls, you can allow yourselves to be so entirely 
occupied with the various pursuits of this life, as to ex- 
clude, I will not say all thought (for that is impossible), 
but all serious solicitude concerning your future and eter- 
nal destiny % Are there any delights that this world has 
to offer, that can compensate for the loss of heaven? 
Some of you have, perhaps, run your career of power, of 
pleasure, of gaiety, of luxury, of glory, and of fame, and 
can tell the true amount, the real value of these enjoy- 
ments. Say, then, honestly, whether any one of them 
has answered your expectations ; whether they have left 
your minds perfectly content and satisfied ; whether they 
have proved so solid, so durable, so perfect, as to be 
worth purchasing at the expense of eternal happiness 1 
I will venture to abide by your answer. Trust, then, to 
your own experience, and be no longer the dupes of il- 
lusions which have so long misled you. And if you have 
any feeling, any pity for the young, the thoughtless, and 
the inexperienced, let them profit by the instructions, 
the salutary lessons you are so well qualified to give 



MATTHEW XXVIII. 349 

them ; let your warning voice restrain them from rushing 
headlong into those errors, into which you have perhaps 
been unfortunately betrayed. Tell them (for you know 
it to be true), that whatever flattering prospects the 
world may present to their ardent imaginations at their 
first entrance into life, there is no solid ground for per- 
manent comfort and content of mind, but a conscientious 
discharge of their duty to God and man, an anxious 
endeavour to recommend themselves to the favour of 
the Almighty, and a hope of pardon and acceptance 
through the merits of their Redeemer. These alone can 
smooth the path of life and the bed of death ; these 
alone can bring a man peace at the last. 

Reflections such as these must, in all times, and under 
all circumstances, operate most powerfully on every con- 
siderate mind ; but they receive tenfold weight from the 
peculiar complexion of the present period, and the awful 
situation into which, by the dispensations of Provi- 
dence, we are now cast. Never since the world began 
were such tremendous proofs held up to the observa- 
tion of mankind, of the slender and precarious tenure 
on which we hold every thing that we deem most valu- 
able in the present life, as have been of late presented 
to our view. Look around you for a moment ; consider 
what has been passing on the continent of Europe for 
the last ten years, and then say what is there left for 
you in this world worthy of your attention, on the 
possession of which, for any length of time, you can with 
any degree of security rely 1 You must have been very 
inattentive observers indeed, not to have perceived, that 
all the great objects of human wishes, rank, power, 
honour, dignity, fame, riches, pleasures, gaieties, all the 
pomp, and pride, and splendour, and luxury of life, may, 
when you least think of it, contrary to all expectation 
and all probability, be swept away from you in one 
moment, and you yourselves thrown as it were a mise- 
rable wreck on some desert shore, not only without the 
elegancies and the comforts, but even without the com- 
mon necessaries of life. That this is no imaginary re- 
presentation, you all know too well ; you see too many 
melancholy proofs of it in those unfortunate exiles who 
have taken refuge in this country ; many of whom have 
experienced, in the utmost extent, the very calamities I 
have been here describing : and who, but a few years 

2 H 



1 



360 LECTURE XXIV. 

ago, had as little reason to expect such a dreadful re* 
verse of fortune as any one who now hears me. 

It is true, indeed, that hitherto we have been most 
wonderfully preserved by a kind Providence from those 
miseries that have desolated the rest of Europe, and have 
maintained a noble, though a bitter conflict, during many 
years, for our religion, our liberty, our independence, 
our unrivalled constitution, and every thing that is dear 
and valuable to man. But it must at the same time be 
admitted, that we are still in a most critical and doubtful 
situation, and that our final success must principally de- 
pend on that to which we have a thousand times owed 
our preservation, the favour and protection of Heaven. 

The rapid, the astonishing, the unexampled vicissi- 
tudes, which have repeatedly taken place during the 
whole of this arduous contest, most clearly show, that 
there is something in it more than common, something 
out of the ordinary course of human affairs, something 
which baffles all conjecture and all calculation, and 
which all the wisdom of man cannot comprehend or con- 
trol. What then is this something, what is this secret 
and invisible agent, which so evidently overrules every 
important event in the present convulsive state of the 
world, and so frequently confounds the best-concerted 
projects and designs'? Is it fate: is it necessity: is it 
chance: is it fortune? These, alas ! we all know, are 
mere names, are mere unmeaning words, by which we 
express our total ignorance of the true cause. That 
cause can be nothing else than the hand of that Omni- 
potent Being, who first created and still preserves the 
universe; who is " the governor among the nations, and 
ruleth unto the ends of the earth." To make kirn then 
our friend is of the very last importance ; and it highly 
behoves us to consider, whether we have hitherto taken 
the right way to make him so. The answer to this ques- 
tion is, I fear, to be found in the unfavourable aspect of 
affairs abroad, and the severe distresses arising from un- 
propitious seasons at home, which too plainly show, that 
the hand of the Almighty is upon us ; that we are a 
sinful people, and he an offended God*. 

Let it not, however, be imagined, that I am here hold- 
ing the language of despondency and despair ; no, no- 

* This Lecture was given in the Spring of the year 1801. 



MATTHEW XXVIII. 351 

thing can be farther from my thoughts. But in the pre- 
sent calamitous situation of this country, this glorious 
and still unrivalled country, to which all our hearts are 
bound by a thousand indissoluble ties, it would have 
been unpardonable in me to have passed over, with un- 
feeling apathy and cbid indifference, those awakening 
and unexampled events, which are forcing themselves 
every moment on our observation, and which call aloud 
on all the sons of men to reflect and to repent. I felt it 
to be my indispensable duty, in this my last solemn 
address to you, to press upon you every motive to a holy 
life that could influence the heart of man, and with this 
view to draw your attention to all those astonishing 
scenes that are daily passing before your eyes, and which 
add irresistible force to every thing that has been ad- 
vanced in the course of these Lectures. You now see 
displayed, in visible characters, in the actual vicissitudes 
of almost every hour, those great truths which I have 
been for four years past inculcating in words ; the uncer- 
tainty of every earthly blessing, the vanity of all human 
pursuits, the instability of all worldly happiness, and the 
absolute necessity of looking out for some more solid 
ground to stand upon, some more durable treasures on 
which to fix our affections and our hearts. For many 
years past God has been speaking to us by the various 
dispensations of his providence, by acts of mercy and 
of justice, by his interpositions to save us, by his judg- 
ments to correct us. He has been speaking a language 
which cannot be misunderstood ; a language which is 
heard in every quarter of the globe, which makes all 
nature tremble, and shakes the very foundations of the 
earth. 

Yet still, though there is just cause for apprehension, 
there is no occasion for despair. If from these judg- 
ments of the Lord we learn that lesson they were meant 
to teach us ; if we turn without delay from the evil of 
our ways ; if we humble ourselves under the mighty 
hand of God, and acknowledge our transgressions with 
the truest penitence and contrition of soul ; if we set 
ourselves in earnest to relinquish every vicious habit, 
every secret fault, as well as every presumptuous sin ; 
if we deny ourselves, and take up our cross to follow 
Christ; if we lay our follies, our vanities, our gaieties, 
our criminal indulgences, at the feet of our Redeemer, 
and purify ourselves even as he is pure ; if, in these times 




352 LECTURE XXIV. 

of unexampled scarcity of all the necessaries of life, we 
open our hearts and our hands wide to the necessities of 
our suffering brethren ; if, in short, by the purity of our 
hearts, the sanctity of our lives, the fervour of our devo- 
tions, the sincerity of our faith and confidence in Christ, 
we recommend ourselves to the favour of Heaven, I 
scruple not to say, that we have nothing to fear. By the 
mighty hand of God we shall be protected here ; by the 
merits of him who died for us we shall be saved and re- 
warded hereafter. And we may, I trust, in this case, 
humbly apply to ourselves that consolatory declaration 
of the Almighty to another people, with which I shall 
finally close these Lectures ; and which may God of his 
infinite mercy confirm to us all in this world, and in the 
next! 

*' How can I give thee up, Ephraim? My soul is 
turned within me. I will not execute the fierceness of 
my anger ; I am God, and not man*. In a little wrath I 
hid my face from thee for a moment ; but with ever- 
lasting kindness t will I have mercy on thee}." 

* Hosea xi, 8, 9. 

t This kindness has in fact (as far as the public welfare is con- 
cerned) been in several important instances most graciously and 
conspicuously extended to this highly-favoured land since these Lec- 
tures were finished ; and it evidently calls for every return, on ou? 
part, of affection and obedience to our heavenly Benefactor, that the 
deepest sense of gratitude can possibly dictate to devout and feeling 
hearts. March, 1802. 

% Isaiah lw, 8. 



THE END. 



LONDON: 

PRINTED BY CHARLES WOOD, 

PopphVs Court, Fleet Street. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: June 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 397 375 A 



